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PARENT POWER!

  • National Overview
  • Select Your State
  • About The Index
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  • National Overview
  • Select Your State
  • About The Index

PARENT POWER!

  • National Overview
  • Select Your State
  • About The Index
Menu
  • National Overview
  • Select Your State
  • About The Index

PARENT POWER!

  • National Overview
  • Select Your State
  • About The Index
Menu
  • National Overview
  • Select Your State
  • About The Index

Georgia

U.S.
Rank

#12
Overall PPI Score:
73.3%
PPI Grade Key:
← Back to Georgia state overview
A
B
C
D
F
  • Opportunity
  • Innovation
  • Policy Environment

Charter Schools

Score:

75%

Grade:

C

Rank:

#19

The environment for these innovative public schools is strong in Georgia as the law grants blanket waivers from most state and local regulations that apply to district schools. However, even with a slight increase in funding in May, 2021, the state is far from guaranteeing the equity children deserve. The state also increased state funding and allocated a proportionate share of federal funding to district-authorized charter schools.

Fast Facts:

Law passed: 1993

Most recently amended: 2021

Number of charter schools: 90

Number of charter students: 60,039

Cap on the number of schools allowed:? No

Virtual charters allowed? Yes

Charter Law Analysis:

AUTHORIZERS: Local districts, State Board, and the Charter Schools Commission of Georgia (CSCG), can authorize, but increasingly this “independent” state commission has become less independent, and operates in tandem with the state education department, and thus, more bureaucratically than intended by the law.

GROWTH: While there is no cap, the number of charter schools has seen a slow but steady decline in recent years; enrollment is down almost 7,000 students from two years ago. The state is not motivated to expand despite increased demand.

OPERATIONS: The law grants blanket waivers from most state and local regulations that apply to district schools. While state-authorized charters are their own local education agencies and have a fair amount of autonomy, districts heavily regulate the schools they sponsor. As in most states, teachers must be traditionally certified.

EQUITY: In May 2021, Governor Kemp signed SB 59 into law, which increases student funding by about $100 per-pupil. Additionally, under the new legislation school districts are required to provide local charter schools their proportionate share of federal funds. In the state FY2022 budget, lawmakers also approved an increase of $1 million in funding for charter schools facilities.  In general, however, districts still negotiate funding with locally approved charter schools, and while the law states that charters should be treated ”no less favorably” than conventional district schools, they often are not.

Learn More:

Georgia Charter School Law

Georgia Charter Schools Association

Choice Programs (Scholarships, Vouchers, Tax Credits, etc.)

Score:

70%

Grade:

C

Rank:

#10

Increases in both state programs in the past year makes the future brighter for Georgia’s kids. The Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program (2007) and the Qualified Educational Expense Tax Credit (2008) combined to serve just over 21,000 students annually as of 2020. Both programs received good news in 2021-2022 –  when voucher eligibility for disabled students was expanded and the cap for the scholarship program was raised by $20 million. While more scholarship growth will be triggered by the passage of HB 517, lawmakers hope to raise the cap even more in the next legislative session.  

Fast Facts:

Law enacted: 2007-2008

Number of programs: 2

Statewide Participation: 18,768

Types of programs: Voucher, Tax Credit Scholarship

Choice Laws & Analysis:

Voucher
Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program

The Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program is a voucher program that began in 2007, available for families with special needs students who attend Georgia public schools and have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Students that receive vouchers can use funds to access specialized schools. In May 2021 a bill passed expanding eligibility in this program–It does so in several ways: by allowing more children with physical or learning disabilities to participate (including autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, and dyslexia) who have a 504 plan; allowing students who attended a public special needs preschool in Georgia to participate; and allowing students with special needs who are adopted from foster care to access the program immediately. Currently 5,000 students participate, which will grow with this expansion.

Tax-Credit Scholarship
Qualified Education Expense Tax Credit

The Qualified Education Expense Tax Credit program was enacted in 2008 to help prior public school students attend private schools that fit their individual needs. All Georgia public school students are eligible if they attended a public school for at least six weeks prior to receiving a scholarship, as are students who are enrolling in prekindergarten, kindergarten or first grade. Enacted in March 2022, HB 517 raised the cap on the state’s tax credit scholarship program and the amount in tax incentives that those who donate to the program can receive. The measure raises the current $100 million cap on the program by $20 million each year through 2032.  HB 517 also doubles the amount individuals, LLCs, and S Corporations may contribute and removes the automatic sunset of the program. The program has no income limit or enrollment cap, and in 2021 the scholarship cap was $11,359 a student, with over 16,000 scholarships awarded in 2020 with an average scholarship value at $4,464. .

Learn More:

EdChoice Analysis on Georgia

Federation for Children Choice Program Information

2019 ALEC Report Card on American Education

Teacher Quality

Score:

77%

Grade:

C

Rank:

#5

The state’s salary schedule is dated and not tied to effectiveness, though student growth is a small part of evaluations. Requirements for teacher content knowledge varies by grade and subject.

TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT: 72%
General Teacher Preparation 82%
Elementary Teacher Preparation 62%
Secondary Teacher Preparation 85%
Special Education Teacher Preparation 58%
Alternate Routes 75%  

STAFFING AND SUPPORT: 75%
Hiring 75%
Retaining Effective Teachers 74%

TEACHER EVALUATION: 86%

TEACHER COMPENSATION: 75%

Learn More:

National Council for Teacher Quality State Teacher Policy Database

Charter Schools

Score:

75%

Grade:

C

Rank:

#19

The environment for these innovative public schools is strong in Georgia as the law grants blanket waivers from most state and local regulations that apply to district schools. However, even with a slight increase in funding in May, 2021, the state is far from guaranteeing the equity children deserve. The state also increased state funding and allocated a proportionate share of federal funding to district-authorized charter schools.

Fast Facts:

Law passed: 1993

Most recently amended: 2021

Number of charter schools: 90

Number of charter students: 60,039

Cap on the number of schools allowed:? No

Virtual charters allowed? Yes

Charter Law Analysis:

AUTHORIZERS: Local districts, State Board, and the Charter Schools Commission of Georgia (CSCG), can authorize, but increasingly this “independent” state commission has become less independent, and operates in tandem with the state education department, and thus, more bureaucratically than intended by the law.

GROWTH: While there is no cap, the number of charter schools has seen a slow but steady decline in recent years; enrollment is down almost 7,000 students from two years ago. The state is not motivated to expand despite increased demand.

OPERATIONS: The law grants blanket waivers from most state and local regulations that apply to district schools. While state-authorized charters are their own local education agencies and have a fair amount of autonomy, districts heavily regulate the schools they sponsor. As in most states, teachers must be traditionally certified.

EQUITY: In May 2021, Governor Kemp signed SB 59 into law, which increases student funding by about $100 per-pupil. Additionally, under the new legislation school districts are required to provide local charter schools their proportionate share of federal funds. In the state FY2022 budget, lawmakers also approved an increase of $1 million in funding for charter schools facilities.  In general, however, districts still negotiate funding with locally approved charter schools, and while the law states that charters should be treated ”no less favorably” than conventional district schools, they often are not.

Learn More:

Georgia Charter School Law

Georgia Charter Schools Association

Choice Programs (Scholarships, Vouchers, Tax Credits, etc.)

Score:

70%

Grade:

C

Rank:

#10

Increases in both state programs in the past year makes the future brighter for Georgia’s kids. The Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program (2007) and the Qualified Educational Expense Tax Credit (2008) combined to serve just over 21,000 students annually as of 2020. Both programs received good news in 2021-2022 –  when voucher eligibility for disabled students was expanded and the cap for the scholarship program was raised by $20 million. While more scholarship growth will be triggered by the passage of HB 517, lawmakers hope to raise the cap even more in the next legislative session.  

Fast Facts:

Law enacted: 2007-2008

Number of programs: 2

Statewide Participation: 18,768

Types of programs: Voucher, Tax Credit Scholarship

Choice Laws & Analysis:

Voucher
Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program

The Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program is a voucher program that began in 2007, available for families with special needs students who attend Georgia public schools and have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Students that receive vouchers can use funds to access specialized schools. In May 2021 a bill passed expanding eligibility in this program–It does so in several ways: by allowing more children with physical or learning disabilities to participate (including autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, and dyslexia) who have a 504 plan; allowing students who attended a public special needs preschool in Georgia to participate; and allowing students with special needs who are adopted from foster care to access the program immediately. Currently 5,000 students participate, which will grow with this expansion.

Tax-Credit Scholarship
Qualified Education Expense Tax Credit

The Qualified Education Expense Tax Credit program was enacted in 2008 to help prior public school students attend private schools that fit their individual needs. All Georgia public school students are eligible if they attended a public school for at least six weeks prior to receiving a scholarship, as are students who are enrolling in prekindergarten, kindergarten or first grade. Enacted in March 2022, HB 517 raised the cap on the state’s tax credit scholarship program and the amount in tax incentives that those who donate to the program can receive. The measure raises the current $100 million cap on the program by $20 million each year through 2032.  HB 517 also doubles the amount individuals, LLCs, and S Corporations may contribute and removes the automatic sunset of the program. The program has no income limit or enrollment cap, and in 2021 the scholarship cap was $11,359 a student, with over 16,000 scholarships awarded in 2020 with an average scholarship value at $4,464. .

Learn More:

EdChoice Analysis on Georgia

Federation for Children Choice Program Information

2019 ALEC Report Card on American Education

Teacher Quality

Score:

77%

Grade:

C

Rank:

#5

The state’s salary schedule is dated and not tied to effectiveness, though student growth is a small part of evaluations. Requirements for teacher content knowledge varies by grade and subject.

TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT: 72%
General Teacher Preparation 82%
Elementary Teacher Preparation 62%
Secondary Teacher Preparation 85%
Special Education Teacher Preparation 58%
Alternate Routes 75%  

STAFFING AND SUPPORT: 75%
Hiring 75%
Retaining Effective Teachers 74%

TEACHER EVALUATION: 86%

TEACHER COMPENSATION: 75%

Learn More:

National Council for Teacher Quality State Teacher Policy Database

Digital & Personalized Learning

Digital Learning:

Score:

78%

Grade:

C

Rank:

#20

Georgia DOE offers school districts digital learning resources on strategy, equity, and professional development. These resources include toolkits, webinars and online teaching courses. 

Georgia Virtual School is a state virtual school opened by the GDOE in 2005, offering supplemental courses for middle and high school students that attend private, district, charters, and home schools in the state. Advanced Placement test results from 2013-2018 show that a higher percentage of students enrolled in Georgia Virtual School passed the AP exam when compared to both state and national passing rates six years in a row. There are over 60,000 students enrolled in the school. 

Bandwidth: “100% of students in Georgia can access the Internet at speeds of 100 kbps per student, and many students are connected at higher speeds.”

Personalized Learning:

Georgia’s Personalized Learning Grant, formerly labeled Technology Tools for Teachers, promotes student achievement through personalized instruction and the use of technology. The PL Grant is currently implemented in 14 schools across 4 districts. 

Additionally, the state has an Innovation Fund that creates partnerships between nonprofits, higher education institutions, and public schools to promote personalized learning and student achievement.

Learn More:

Georgia Virtual School

Personalized Learning Grant

Innovation Fund

COVID-19 Response

Georgia first closed all schools March 16, although many were closed already. March 23, the state released guidelines for remote learning and while leaving decisions up to districts, they provided encouragement and motivation for schools to continue instruction for all students. The state focused on access and created a website with various resources, including guidance for special education.

For a return to school in August, Georgia’s state government left reopening decisions in the hands of districts. Some Georgia schools opened as of 8/6. High population districts are relying on hybrid learning options.

Fast Facts

4th Grade Math Proficiency:

24%

8th Grade Math Proficiency:

24%

12th Grade Math Proficiency:

24% (nat'l average)

4th Grade Reading Proficiency:

32%

8th Grade Reading Proficiency:

31%

12th Grade Reading Proficiency:

37% (nat'l average)

Graduation Rate:

82%

Average SAT Score:

1060/1600

Average ACT Score:

21.6/36

Public School Enrollment:

1,740,875

Percent Enrolled in Charter Schools:

3.7%

Average Student Funding:

$11,707.00
Digital & Personalized Learning
Digital Learning:

Score:

78%

Grade:

C

Rank:

#20

Georgia DOE offers school districts digital learning resources on strategy, equity, and professional development. These resources include toolkits, webinars and online teaching courses. 

Georgia Virtual School is a state virtual school opened by the GDOE in 2005, offering supplemental courses for middle and high school students that attend private, district, charters, and home schools in the state. Advanced Placement test results from 2013-2018 show that a higher percentage of students enrolled in Georgia Virtual School passed the AP exam when compared to both state and national passing rates six years in a row. There are over 60,000 students enrolled in the school. 

Bandwidth: “100% of students in Georgia can access the Internet at speeds of 100 kbps per student, and many students are connected at higher speeds.”

Personalized Learning:

Georgia’s Personalized Learning Grant, formerly labeled Technology Tools for Teachers, promotes student achievement through personalized instruction and the use of technology. The PL Grant is currently implemented in 14 schools across 4 districts. 

Additionally, the state has an Innovation Fund that creates partnerships between nonprofits, higher education institutions, and public schools to promote personalized learning and student achievement.

Learn More:

Georgia Virtual School

Personalized Learning Grant

Innovation Fund

COVID-19 Response

Georgia first closed all schools March 16, although many were closed already. March 23, the state released guidelines for remote learning and while leaving decisions up to districts, they provided encouragement and motivation for schools to continue instruction for all students. The state focused on access and created a website with various resources, including guidance for special education.

For a return to school in August, Georgia’s state government left reopening decisions in the hands of districts. Some Georgia schools opened as of 8/6. High population districts are relying on hybrid learning options.

Fast Facts

4th Grade Math Proficiency:

24%

8th Grade Math Proficiency:

24%

12th Grade Math Proficiency:

24% (nat’l average)

4th Grade Reading Proficiency:

32%

8th Grade Reading Proficiency:

31%

12th Grade Reading Proficiency:

37% (nat’l average)

Graduation Rate:

82%

Average SAT Score:

1060/1600

Average ACT Score:

21.6/36

Public School Enrollment:

1,740,875

Percent Enrolled in Charter Schools:

3.7%

Average Student Funding:

$11,707.00

Leadership

Your governor:

Brian Kemp (R)

First term began in 2019 (two-term limit)

With a second term secured and both houses of the legislature all being of the same party the stage is set for Governor Kemp to follow his neighbor to the south and unleash the same fundamental shift from government run, one size fits all schools to parents deciding how and where their tax dollars should be spent.  Perhaps a little parent power will spur the Governor to think boldly.

State Legislature:

The legislature continues to work to increase quality education for all, by successfully pushing for new laws this year. There’s still much more to be done to ensure parent power for all, which we hope to see in the near future!

Constitutional Issues

“The Georgia Constitution contains a Blaine Amendment, but it also contains an education provision …that explicitly authorizes the General Assembly to provide grants and scholarships to students and parents for educational purposes, such as those of voucher programs.” (Institute for Justice)

On June 26, 2017, the Georgia Supreme Court rejected a challenge to Georgia’s tax-credit scholarship program and ruled that plaintiffs had no standing to sue.

Learn More:

Institute for Justice: Georgia School Choice and State Constitution

Transparency

School report cards are difficult to find on Georgia’s DOE homepage. Report cards are located under the Data and Reporting subheading, and clicking Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, which is not automatically intuitive. School report cards are cumbersome and hard to use, requiring you to flip through multiple links and tabs to find data you are looking for.

Educational options are easy to find from the homepage under Innovation, where you can access information on charters, homeschooling, virtual learning, and career pathways.

School board elections are held during the general election cycle, which gives parents more power in their decision making because of higher voter turnout.

Leadership
Your governor:

Brian Kemp (R)

First term began in 2019 (two-term limit)

With a second term secured and both houses of the legislature all being of the same party the stage is set for Governor Kemp to follow his neighbor to the south and unleash the same fundamental shift from government run, one size fits all schools to parents deciding how and where their tax dollars should be spent.  Perhaps a little parent power will spur the Governor to think boldly.

State Legislature:

The legislature continues to work to increase quality education for all, by successfully pushing for new laws this year. There’s still much more to be done to ensure parent power for all, which we hope to see in the near future!

Constitutional Issues

“The Georgia Constitution contains a Blaine Amendment, but it also contains an education provision …that explicitly authorizes the General Assembly to provide grants and scholarships to students and parents for educational purposes, such as those of voucher programs.” (Institute for Justice)

On June 26, 2017, the Georgia Supreme Court rejected a challenge to Georgia’s tax-credit scholarship program and ruled that plaintiffs had no standing to sue.

Learn More:

Institute for Justice: Georgia School Choice and State Constitution

Transparency

School report cards are difficult to find on Georgia’s DOE homepage. Report cards are located under the Data and Reporting subheading, and clicking Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, which is not automatically intuitive. School report cards are cumbersome and hard to use, requiring you to flip through multiple links and tabs to find data you are looking for.

Educational options are easy to find from the homepage under Innovation, where you can access information on charters, homeschooling, virtual learning, and career pathways.

School board elections are held during the general election cycle, which gives parents more power in their decision making because of higher voter turnout.

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Charter Schools

Charter schools are public schools, open by choice, free from most rules and regulations that hamper traditional public schools and held accountable for results.

Since 1991, when charter schools were first established in Minnesota, the principle has remained the same — increased operational autonomy in exchange for increased accountability for outcomes. This freedom to innovate allows academically excellent charter schools to flourish.

As of 2020, there were more than 7,300 charter schools across the country with more than 3.3 million students, with demand higher everywhere they are located. Forty-six states, including Washington, D.C. have charter school laws. West Virginia enacted the most recent law in 2019. All charter laws are not created equal, however, and in fact, many are so flawed that they allow for only minimal opportunity for parents. PPI draws from CER’s newest Charter School Law Rankings and Scorecard, produced in the summer of 2020. For the US as a whole, the glass is more empty than full when it comes to meaningful charter choices.

Since 1996, CER has researched, analyzed, and ranked charter school laws, taking the content of each law into consideration as well as how it impacts charter schools on the ground. This Parent Power Index looks at four main areas of each state’s law:

If it allows for multiple authorizers, and if applicants have the ability to appeal a denial; whether it allows for growth, particularly with no caps on number of schools or enrollment; if schools and teachers have freedom to innovate; and if there is equitable funding of schools, including for facilities and transportation.

Charter schools are the most analyzed public school reform in decades. Since 1996, CER has studied their impact, their environment, and their practice and made recommendations for how to improve each law. The Parent Power Index charter score is based on whether the law allows for freedom and flexibility that can ensure parents, teachers and the general public are able to build vibrant, successful charter schools without undue interference from flawed state regulators, with equitable funding and parents in the driver’s seat. More about how this works can be found in CER publications, most notably Charting a New Course and The Future of School.

In addition, past rankings document how states have grown or confined charter schools and what best practices should be followed. Finally CER has provided a model charter school law for policymakers that is the standard bearer for advocates who believe that parents, not systems, should drive education.

Choice Programs

Educational choice is best defined as the availability of a multitude of public programs that provide parents with the ability to include private and religious entities – schools, tutoring, and other organizations – in their choices. Those programs are enacted at the state level, allowing in a wide variety of ways that the funds allocated for education in a state either follow the student to the institution the parent chooses or, as in the case of tax credits, public funds are redistributed to support the choices parents make, rather than automatically going to government based school districts.

These options are often referred to as scholarship programs, vouchers, tax credits, education accounts and more.

The existence of a higher degree of educational choice in a community or state, particularly for lower income students, has been found to be a significant factor in improving education and ensuring all students have access to the best school that meets their individual needs. Where once private options were only available to the more advantaged, most choice programs today ensure that those without resources have the power to shape their student’s education and invest in their future.

PPI 2020 assesses the extent to which every state gives families better and more abundant educational options through various mechanisms. Choice programs are analyzed and evaluated on their potential to reach all children across a state and for the degree to which they can actually support the full choice of parents, as opposed to only providing a modest amount of financial support. Programs where a significant population of parents can obtain scholarships or vouchers to send their children to the school of their choice score higher than those that have limitations based on geography, income, and student eligibility constraints.

To determine scores, PPI relies on well-established organizations which study, advance and support such programs. The scores were developed with this lens, and on information and ratings from EdChoice’s School Choice in America Dashboard, American Legislative Exchange Council’s Report Card on American Education: 23rd Edition, and American Federation for Children’s School Choice Interactive Map.

Teacher Quality

Teacher Quality is an equally important facet of ensuring greater educational opportunity. There is a direct correlation between quality teachers and student achievement, and teachers have the power to foster highly effective learning environments and leave a lasting impact on the future of their students. State teacher policies are critical in ensuring that students have the opportunity to receive the best education possible. Without schools full of well-prepared teachers who are held accountable either directly to the parent or to taxpayers for student achievement, opportunity can be meaningless. Most states vary widely in the criteria used to train, hire, retain, evaluate, reward and advance teachers, and local rules also influence that criteria greatly, as do teachers unions. PPI looked again to the expert analysis of the National Council of Teacher Quality, and from several aspects of their work PPI extrapolated final teacher quality scores. (NCTQ does not grade each state.)

Relying solely on the rich data collected from the National Council on Teacher Quality, states are measured by across a wide range of policy categories: Training and Recruitment, Staffing and Support, Evaluation, and Compensation. The score is by no means comprehensive about teacher quality across every community and state, but it is based on the extent to which states rigorously expect, manage and measure different aspects of teacher training, hiring, evaluation and compensation. States score higher when they have strong, data-driven, performance-based accountability systems that ensure teachers are rewarded, retained, and advanced based on their effectiveness. Likewise, states that establish rigorous teacher preparation programs and offer alternative licensing programs earn higher scores.

For more information about the Teacher Quality landscape, please see the National Council on Teacher Quality’s detailed analysis in their State Teacher Policy Database.

Innovation

States are measured on their increasing commitment to and practice of innovative approaches to education that include digital learning models and pathways, full or in part, encouraging personalized learning through focus on competency and mastery – even on a pilot level – or by allowing flexibility in schools and school districts that want to do it. Personalized learning models value mastery of material over traditional subject matter time tests, and competency over end of course grades. While these practices are best decided locally, closest to the student, states can motivate, incentivize, fund, discourage or encourage.

To determine scores, the PPI drew heavily from ExcelinEd’s 2019 State Progress Toward Next Generation Learning, Aurora Institute’s 2020 Future-Focused State Policy Actions to Transform K-12 Education, and KnowledgeWorks’ 2019 State Policy Framework for Personalized Learning.

COVID-19 Response

When COVID-19 reached our shores in early 2020, states were forced to close their schools for in-person instruction. Whether and how to continue teaching and set expectations for continued learning outside of the classroom was a big debate. Many states and schools quickly pivoted to delivering education remotely, either through technology enabled tools or with low-tech paper packets and phone calls, or a combination of both. The response from schools and school districts varied widely, with some being willing to adapt and some actually discouraging both teaching and learning. CER tracked those responses (and continues to do so, given the fluidity of the situation). States that were encouraging, set expectations, and demanded that schools figure out whatever they could to keep moving students forward, tended to have more schools and districts that responded well and worked to deliver education regardless of challenges. Many states that had digital or virtual learning programs in place were able to make a more seamless shift. Innovative leaders at local and state levels rose to the occasion. But many states and localities dragged their feet and, in some cases, outright discouraged schooling to keep going, including forbidding teachers in some areas to be required to do any face to face teaching via technology.

States were evaluated based on reviewing their official notices and declarations, and by reviewing a broad array of surveys and data many groups have been maintaining. This score also factors in states’ prior commitments to expanding broadband and internet access and how they worked to provide devices to keep students learning and engaged.

What was, and is, a challenging and unprecedented time for schools, teachers, and parents was also an opportunity to look at states’ and schools’ abilities to adapt, be flexible, and innovate.

For more on Education Innovation, check out the CER ACTION Series:

  • Virtual Events & Videos
  • Key Data
  • Resources
  • Publications

Leadership

Improving education opportunity and innovation requires leaders who boldly and courageously push forward to create or expand successful programs that allow a wide variety of educational choice and individualized programs to thrive. Governors and state legislators are the most important entities in each state to pave the way, or deter, expanded parent power. Some leaders pay lip service to issues, while others wake up with a fire in their belly to ensure that they are doing what they can every day to push through conventional wisdom and demand 21st century schooling opportunities for all students.

Whether or not your governor is the bold, fire-in-the-belly kind, or a passive applauder of others’ efforts, is evaluated to help you push or prod or applaud. PPI looks at their positions AND actions on charter schools, choice programs, innovation, and commitment to increasing educational opportunities for all students at every level and summarizes it for you here. You have the power to elect leaders who prioritize parents and students!

Constitutional Issues

The ability for states to enact educational change can be significantly limited depending on certain provisions in state constitutions.

The most common clause that limits educational opportunity in most states are “Blaine Amendments” – named after 19th century Congressman James Blaine nearly 150 years ago. Historically, these provisions in 37 state constitutions were either interpreted to restrict educational choice programs that include private schools or have been a deterrent for many programs being considered, let alone enacted.

This issue received a great deal of press leading up to and following the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 30, 2020 decision in the case of Espinoza vs Montana Department of Revenue, a case that dealt with Montana’s Blaine Amendment. That landmark decision found that the U.S. Constitution “forbids states from excluding religious schools as options for families participating in educational choice programs, including through Blaine Amendments.”

As a result, most states have a new path to enact programs that provide options for families, including religious schools. Their individual versions of Blaine Amendments can either be nullified with attorney generals’ opinions, with legislation or with both. Additional restrictions on expanded opportunity are often dedicated by what is called a Compelled Support Clause where dated constitutional language restricts public funding to government entities.

We look at each state’s particular constitutional issues, utilizing a number of sources, CER attorney analysis and the Institute for Justice’s research as our guide. Additional information about Espinoza and Blaine Amendments can be found here.

In addition, if states have other constitutional barriers to more opportunity, they are evaluated in this area.

Transparency

Transparency is a key element of providing great opportunities for students. Every parent needs and deserves full transparency of school-level data to allow them to make informed decisions and drive changes in how their students are educated. School report cards empower parents in their decision making by giving them access to meaningful and quality education data about a particular school or district. Report cards often provide information on student performance, student growth, attendance, graduation rates, demographics, teacher quality, school environment, assessments, and more. States that have greater transparency and accountability provide the public with data that is current, readily available, and easy to understand.

States are measured based on the transparency and accessibility of data for the average person looking to learn about their child’s school. States have more gas in the tank when school report cards are easily accessible from their state DOE homepage; report cards are comprehensive, user-friendly, and easy to understand; and information about educational options are readily available. Additionally, states score higher when they hold School Board Elections during the General Election cycle, as opposed to off-times of the year when turnout is low, because this tends to afford parents more power in their decision-making.