The High-Stakes Election For America’s Schools

The approaching midterm elections offer American parents a critical opportunity to regain control of their children’s education. A new report from Defending Education is giving them – and their legislators – a roadmap of just how they can do that.

The report, titled “Helping Public Schools RISE: Rankings on Integrity in State Education (RISE),” seeks to empower parents and legislators with state-by-state rankings on issues that matter most to parents: DEI, gender ideology, parental rights, teachers’ union influence, and foreign funding.

It shows where protections for parental rights are falling short, and where teachers’ unions, foreign funding, and gender ideology are exerting undue influence.

By systematically ranking states’ educational policies and priorities, the report helps legislators hold their schools accountable — and helps parents hold legislators accountable come November.

Defending Education’s RISE report found that the top 10 highest-scoring states are all Republican-run. For example, Tennessee ranked at the top of the list, followed closely by Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, and Iowa.

This shouldn’t surprise Americans who are tired of political leaders on the Left refusing to concede that gender ideology and teachers’ unions are having an outsized and inappropriate impact on American education. Conversely, many conservative lawmakers are leading voices fighting the politicization of American education, gender ideology, and the misplaced priorities of teachers’ unions.

According to the RISE report, Republican-led states were the most likely to have policies promoting a non-political and value neutral K-12 education. They are also the most likely to oppose the use of “gender-identity” to allow biological men on women and girls’ sports teams, or in their private spaces.

Meanwhile, the bottom 10 states looked very blue. Washington, D.C., where the law allows biological men to access women’s sports teams and private spaces if they “identify” as female, came in dead last. California, where state law stops public school employees from telling parents about a student’s change in gender identity, barely scored better. Rhode Island, Oregon, and Illinois also predictably landed at the bottom of the rankings.

The outcome of upcoming elections could determine the fate of schools in several states, as multiple governors are either up for re-election or have terms ending this year.

For example, Governor Brian Kemp’s term will end this November in Georgia, which the RISE report ranked 16th in the nation. Georgia earned a perfect score in the “teacher policy” category but still has room to improve its DEI-related policies. If the state elects a left-leaning governor this November, then state residents could see the state’s RISE ranking slide downward alongside a host of bad policies. Voters can choose someone who can pick up where Gov. Kemp left off and address the policies still holding the state back.

Ohio will also be losing its governor in November. According to the RISE report, Ohio ranks 26th overall, after accounting for all categories. However, the state ranks first in the “gender ideology category.” Ohio voters should focus on electing a candidate who will address Ohio’s gaps in education integrity – especially reigning in the outsized influence of Ohio’s teachers’ unions.

Further out West, Wisconsin ranks 23rd on the issues that matter most to parents. Wisconsin’s scores in the DEI category are good, but the Badger State falls very short on parental rights. In fact, at least 11 school districts allow educators to keep parents in the dark about what is happening with their own children at school.

Wisconsin families are also waiting to see if the new governor will opt in to the new federal tax credit scholarship program, which would unlock new resources for students whose families are seeking alternatives (perhaps because of these rankings). With Governor Tony Evers not seeking a third term, voters have an opportunity to elect a candidate who will make sure parents, not ideologues, are the first to know about decisions affecting their own children.

Rounding out our tour of the Midwest, Iowa may be the RISE report’s biggest success story. Iowa ranked 5th in the nation, scoring high in every category. Yet with Governor Kim Reynolds not seeking reelection, Iowa’s continued progress is not guaranteed. Iowa’s next governor will either protect the state’s place in the top five or let it slip. Iowa voters have the opportunity this year to choose a candidate committed to building on Governor Reynold’s record.

Overall, Defending Education’s RISE report shows that each of these states has something to celebrate and something to work on heading into November and after. Parents and legislators who are concerned about the trajectory of American education should take advantage of it.

This November, they will decide whether their states continue climbing the rankings or fall behind – and whether their children’s classrooms can finally go back to being institutions of learning or further devolve into indoctrination hubs of the far-left.

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Paul Runko is the Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives for Defending Education.