Skip to content

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

PARENT POWER!

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

West Virginia

U.S.
Rank

#6
Overall PPI Score:
77.8%
PPI Grade Key:
← Back to West Virginia state overview
A
B
C
D
F
  • Opportunity
  • Innovation
  • Policy Environment

Charter Schools

Score:

72%

Grade:

C

Rank:

#24

Having passed the nation’s newest charter school law last year which garnered a big fat F for failing to provide the conditions needed for charters, WVA in March 2021 enacted a new law that dramatically improves the potential that new, diverse charter school opportunities will be created, without the kind of bureaucratic impediments the last law imposed.

Fast Facts:

Law passed: 2019

Most recently amended: 2021

Number of charter schools: No charter schools yet: The first schools will not open until Fall 2021 at the earliest

Number of charter students: 0

Cap on the number of schools allowed:? Yes. Up to ten charter schools through 2023, and another 10 every three years thereafter.

Virtual charters allowed? Yes

Charter Law Analysis:

AUTHORIZERS:  The new West Virginia Professional Charter School Board, a newly created independent authorizer, now has the authority to authorize charter schools across the state, including virtual schools (2). The new board consists of five voting members, appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and is separate from the state’s education apparatus. County school boards and districts are also permitted to authorize, and the State Board of Education can become an authorizer on appeal or if requested by local boards, which was also added in March 2021. The appeals process allows an applicant or governing board of an existing public charter school to appeal adverse decisions from districts to the state board of education within 30 days of the authorizer’s decision.

GROWTH:  With the 2021 expansion, the state now permits up to ten charter schools through 2023 among all authorizers, and another 10 every three years thereafter. In addition, virtual charter schools are now permitted. The new West Virginia Professional Charter School Board can authorize an additional two, statewide virtual charter schools which can enroll up to 5 percent of statewide public school enrollment. County boards may authorize one virtual charter school per county, open to up to 10 percent of the county’s public school enrollment.

OPERATIONS: Charter schools have been given new authority as of 2021 to operate their own local education agencies, an enormously important move that ensures that interference by districts and overregulation will be kept at bay. While it’s not certain this will apply fully to district-approved charter schools, which are unlikely anyway, the new charter board will safeguard autonomy for their approved charter schools, and it is that board, not the state education agency, that is responsible for governing its schools. The state board may ensure compliance with critical rules and guidelines but they are not entitled to create new requirements that supersede the intent and letter of the law, a huge win for charter schools. Local or county board authorized charter schools may establish enrollment preferences for children within the primary recruitment area, and limit them to various categories of students that they choose, in other words, limiting options for families. 

EQUITY Charter schools are entitled to 90 percent of the per pupil basic foundation funding and federal funding must also follow the student to the charter school of choice. Each public charter school shall remit to its respective authorizer an oversight fee not to exceed one percent of each public charter school’s per-student funding in a single school year.

Learn More:

West Virginia Charter School Law

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

Score:

82%

Grade:

B

Rank:

#6

In March 2021, West Virginia passed what has been called one of the most expansive education choice laws in the country. Opponents immediately sued and an injunction stood between parents and The Hope Scholarship ESA, an education savings account program that gives parents of public school students the power to choose the education their student deserves, including both public and private schools. But in October, 2022, to cheers from parents throughout the state, The West Virginia Supreme Court overturned a lower court opinion and ordered the program resume immediately.

Fast Facts:

Law enacted: 2021

Number of programs: 1

Types of programs: Education Savings Account

Choice Laws & Analysis:

ESA
The Hope Scholarship
The Hope Scholarship Act, signed into law in 2021, provides power to parents to use their tax dollars to pay for a variety of educational expenses, including tuition and fees at participating private schools and other educational activities. More than 3,000 students were approved to receive approximately $4,300 each during the program’s inaugural cycle, according to the West Virginia State Treasurer’s Office. The first payments were supposed to go out in August 2022, but were put on hold until the lower court’s block on the program was in place. The state Supreme Court issued an order in October reversing a lower court’s ruling, and first payments were issued.The program will expand to include homeschool and private school students in 2026 if the cap on 5 percent of statewide public school enrollment is not met (Details on how to access this scholarship are available here.)

Learn More:

2019 ALEC Report Card on American Education

Teacher Quality

Score:

76%

Grade:

C

Rank:

#14

Links teacher evaluation to professional development policies…“that specifically targets the area(s) identified for professional growth”; but does not have any policies in place that support performance pay.

TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT: 81%
General Teacher Preparation 78%
Elementary Teacher Preparation 90%
Secondary Teacher Preparation 88%
Special Education Teacher Preparation 72%
Alternate Routes 75%  

STAFFING AND SUPPORT: 71%
Hiring 80%
Retaining Effective Teachers 61%

TEACHER EVALUATION: 81%

TEACHER COMPENSATION: 72%

Learn More:

National Council for Teacher Quality State Teacher Policy Database

Charter Schools

Score:

72%

Grade:

C

Rank:

#24

Having passed the nation’s newest charter school law last year which garnered a big fat F for failing to provide the conditions needed for charters, WVA in March 2021 enacted a new law that dramatically improves the potential that new, diverse charter school opportunities will be created, without the kind of bureaucratic impediments the last law imposed.

Fast Facts:

Law passed: 2019

Most recently amended: 2021

Number of charter schools: No charter schools yet: The first schools will not open until Fall 2021 at the earliest

Number of charter students: 0

Cap on the number of schools allowed:? Yes. Up to ten charter schools through 2023, and another 10 every three years thereafter.

Virtual charters allowed? Yes

Charter Law Analysis:

AUTHORIZERS:  The new West Virginia Professional Charter School Board, a newly created independent authorizer, now has the authority to authorize charter schools across the state, including virtual schools (2). The new board consists of five voting members, appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and is separate from the state’s education apparatus. County school boards and districts are also permitted to authorize, and the State Board of Education can become an authorizer on appeal or if requested by local boards, which was also added in March 2021. The appeals process allows an applicant or governing board of an existing public charter school to appeal adverse decisions from districts to the state board of education within 30 days of the authorizer’s decision.

GROWTH:  With the 2021 expansion, the state now permits up to ten charter schools through 2023 among all authorizers, and another 10 every three years thereafter. In addition, virtual charter schools are now permitted. The new West Virginia Professional Charter School Board can authorize an additional two, statewide virtual charter schools which can enroll up to 5 percent of statewide public school enrollment. County boards may authorize one virtual charter school per county, open to up to 10 percent of the county’s public school enrollment.

OPERATIONS: Charter schools have been given new authority as of 2021 to operate their own local education agencies, an enormously important move that ensures that interference by districts and overregulation will be kept at bay. While it’s not certain this will apply fully to district-approved charter schools, which are unlikely anyway, the new charter board will safeguard autonomy for their approved charter schools, and it is that board, not the state education agency, that is responsible for governing its schools. The state board may ensure compliance with critical rules and guidelines but they are not entitled to create new requirements that supersede the intent and letter of the law, a huge win for charter schools. Local or county board authorized charter schools may establish enrollment preferences for children within the primary recruitment area, and limit them to various categories of students that they choose, in other words, limiting options for families. 

EQUITY Charter schools are entitled to 90 percent of the per pupil basic foundation funding and federal funding must also follow the student to the charter school of choice. Each public charter school shall remit to its respective authorizer an oversight fee not to exceed one percent of each public charter school’s per-student funding in a single school year.

Learn More:

West Virginia Charter School Law

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

Score:

82%

Grade:

B

Rank:

#6

In March 2021, West Virginia passed what has been called one of the most expansive education choice laws in the country. Opponents immediately sued and an injunction stood between parents and The Hope Scholarship ESA, an education savings account program that gives parents of public school students the power to choose the education their student deserves, including both public and private schools. But in October, 2022, to cheers from parents throughout the state, The West Virginia Supreme Court overturned a lower court opinion and ordered the program resume immediately.

Fast Facts:

Law enacted: 2021

Number of programs: 1

Types of programs: Education Savings Account

Choice Laws & Analysis:

ESA
The Hope Scholarship
The Hope Scholarship Act, signed into law in 2021, provides power to parents to use their tax dollars to pay for a variety of educational expenses, including tuition and fees at participating private schools and other educational activities. More than 3,000 students were approved to receive approximately $4,300 each during the program’s inaugural cycle, according to the West Virginia State Treasurer’s Office. The first payments were supposed to go out in August 2022, but were put on hold until the lower court’s block on the program was in place. The state Supreme Court issued an order in October reversing a lower court’s ruling, and first payments were issued.The program will expand to include homeschool and private school students in 2026 if the cap on 5 percent of statewide public school enrollment is not met (Details on how to access this scholarship are available here.)

Learn More:

2019 ALEC Report Card on American Education

Teacher Quality

Score:

76%

Grade:

C

Rank:

#14

Links teacher evaluation to professional development policies…“that specifically targets the area(s) identified for professional growth”; but does not have any policies in place that support performance pay.

TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT: 81%
General Teacher Preparation 78%
Elementary Teacher Preparation 90%
Secondary Teacher Preparation 88%
Special Education Teacher Preparation 72%
Alternate Routes 75%  

STAFFING AND SUPPORT: 71%
Hiring 80%
Retaining Effective Teachers 61%

TEACHER EVALUATION: 81%

TEACHER COMPENSATION: 72%

Learn More:

National Council for Teacher Quality State Teacher Policy Database

Digital & Personalized Learning

Digital Learning:

Score:

82%

Grade:

B

Rank:

#10

In 2017, West Virginia passed legislation creating the Virtual Instruction Program Policy, which allows full time virtual learning options for students in the state, differing between counties. The state also receives grant money for online learning from the US Department of Education funded E-Learning for Educators Initiative. More information found here.

The West Virginia Virtual School opened in 2000, and is a supplementary program for West Virginia students. Students in public, private, and homeschool can enroll in online courses ranging from core content, credit recovery, technology, and world languages. There are approximately 6,000 students enrolled in courses. 

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

Personalized Learning:

Well not entirely intended for personalized learning there is hope under the Innovation in Education Act,  which gives public schools an opportunity to become Innovation in Education schools and gain autonomy and flexibility in shaping their learning environments, teaching strategies, curriculum and school structure around the student and their interests. Innovation in Education schools focus their core curriculum on five areas: STEM; community school partnership; entrepreneurship; career pathways; and art. In 2019, they amended the act to add mastery-based learning as one of the core areas, so students could advance based on content mastery, not seat time.

Learn More:

Virtual Instruction Program Policy

West Virginia Virtual School

Innovation in Education Act,

COVID-19 Response

On March 16, schools were closed for the remainder of the school year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 15, the West Virginia Remote Learning Framework for the COVID-19 Emergency was released by the WDOE. Instead of ensuring that all students had access to devices and the internet, the state wrote “Keep in mind that many families have limited, if any, data or internet and one device that must be shared among multiple people. To ensure equal access, educators can provide activities that do not require internet access”. With little regard for good remote learning, educators of elementary students were counseled to make regular contact once a week minimally through handwritten letters, email, local news, phones, etc. “Focus on children’s progress and learning, not assignment completion and due dates. Being flexible. Keep in mind that children may have other familial responsibilities to prioritize or may have limited access to resources. This process may include documentation of learning and giving feedback rather than assigning grades.”

For high school teachers, the state ed officials said that “the combined daily instructional task(s) for students in grades 6-12 not exceed 2-3 hours a day in total.”

Resources were provided, though minimal. 

Reopening guidelines for the 2020-21 school year were more thorough, but varied by region of the state. Regions with high rates of the coronavirus were not permitted to reopen for in-person instruction. Transmission rates are reviewed weekly to determine when schools can reopen. The school year began September 8 for students, whether in person or virtually.

Fast Facts

4th Grade Math Proficiency:

23%

8th Grade Math Proficiency:

16%

12th Grade Math Proficiency:

24% (nat'l average)

4th Grade Reading Proficiency:

22%

8th Grade Reading Proficiency:

22%

12th Grade Reading Proficiency:

37% (nat'l average)

Graduation Rate:

91%

Average SAT Score:

938/1600

Average ACT Score:

20.5/36

Public School Enrollment:

252,720

Percent Enrolled in Charter Schools:

0%

Average Student Funding:

$12,375.00
Digital & Personalized Learning
Digital Learning:

Score:

82%

Grade:

B

Rank:

#10

In 2017, West Virginia passed legislation creating the Virtual Instruction Program Policy, which allows full time virtual learning options for students in the state, differing between counties. The state also receives grant money for online learning from the US Department of Education funded E-Learning for Educators Initiative. More information found here.

The West Virginia Virtual School opened in 2000, and is a supplementary program for West Virginia students. Students in public, private, and homeschool can enroll in online courses ranging from core content, credit recovery, technology, and world languages. There are approximately 6,000 students enrolled in courses. 

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

Personalized Learning:

Well not entirely intended for personalized learning there is hope under the Innovation in Education Act,  which gives public schools an opportunity to become Innovation in Education schools and gain autonomy and flexibility in shaping their learning environments, teaching strategies, curriculum and school structure around the student and their interests. Innovation in Education schools focus their core curriculum on five areas: STEM; community school partnership; entrepreneurship; career pathways; and art. In 2019, they amended the act to add mastery-based learning as one of the core areas, so students could advance based on content mastery, not seat time.

Learn More:

Virtual Instruction Program Policy

West Virginia Virtual School

Innovation in Education Act,

COVID-19 Response

On March 16, schools were closed for the remainder of the school year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 15, the West Virginia Remote Learning Framework for the COVID-19 Emergency was released by the WDOE. Instead of ensuring that all students had access to devices and the internet, the state wrote “Keep in mind that many families have limited, if any, data or internet and one device that must be shared among multiple people. To ensure equal access, educators can provide activities that do not require internet access”. With little regard for good remote learning, educators of elementary students were counseled to make regular contact once a week minimally through handwritten letters, email, local news, phones, etc. “Focus on children’s progress and learning, not assignment completion and due dates. Being flexible. Keep in mind that children may have other familial responsibilities to prioritize or may have limited access to resources. This process may include documentation of learning and giving feedback rather than assigning grades.”

For high school teachers, the state ed officials said that “the combined daily instructional task(s) for students in grades 6-12 not exceed 2-3 hours a day in total.”

Resources were provided, though minimal. 

Reopening guidelines for the 2020-21 school year were more thorough, but varied by region of the state. Regions with high rates of the coronavirus were not permitted to reopen for in-person instruction. Transmission rates are reviewed weekly to determine when schools can reopen. The school year began September 8 for students, whether in person or virtually.

Fast Facts

4th Grade Math Proficiency:

23%

8th Grade Math Proficiency:

16%

12th Grade Math Proficiency:

24% (nat’l average)

4th Grade Reading Proficiency:

22%

8th Grade Reading Proficiency:

22%

12th Grade Reading Proficiency:

37% (nat’l average)

Graduation Rate:

91%

Average SAT Score:

938/1600

Average ACT Score:

20.5/36

Public School Enrollment:

252,720

Percent Enrolled in Charter Schools:

0%

Average Student Funding:

$12,375.00

Leadership

Your governor:

Jim Justice (R)

1st Term (Term Began in 2019)

Until spring of 2021, Governor Jim Justice was presiding over one of the worst education environments of any state.  Attempts to create more innovation and opportunity were met by resistance. But he, advocates and new lawmakers renewed their efforts, and seeing what Covid wrought, encouraged the expansion of the state’s charter school law and what is considered one of the best education choice programs in the country which he signed into law in March, 2021.

State Legislature:

A long time heavily union-influenced Republican legislature finally recruited enough new lawmakers in November 2020 to give them a pro-parent power super majority, which allowed them to shed their union loyalty and enact a law bringing choice to every child in West Virginia for the first time ever.

Constitutional Issues

The West Virginia Supreme Court, in a vote of 3-2 overturned the decision of the Kanawha County Circuit Court judge and ruled the Hope Scholarship Program constitutional. The Hope Scholarship Act into law in 2021. It provides money for a variety of educational expenses, including tuition and fees at participating private schools and other educational activities. While West Virginia is one of only 13 states without Blaine Amendment, but the court nevertheless claimed the program was unconstitutional based on the ideology that it undermined the state’s ability to deliver public education by sending money to follow students, which is not the case.

Learn More:

Institute for Justice: West Virginia School Choice and State Constitution

Transparency

School report cards are easily accessible by clicking the Education Data tab on the main page of the West Virginia Department of Education website. Report cards are easy to understand and navigate by school districts, including a “scorecard explained” tab which is helpful for parents.

Educational options are not easily accessible.

School board elections are not held during the general election cycle, which usually means lower voter turnout.

Leadership
Your governor:

Jim Justice (R)

1st Term (Term Began in 2019)

Until spring of 2021, Governor Jim Justice was presiding over one of the worst education environments of any state.  Attempts to create more innovation and opportunity were met by resistance. But he, advocates and new lawmakers renewed their efforts, and seeing what Covid wrought, encouraged the expansion of the state’s charter school law and what is considered one of the best education choice programs in the country which he signed into law in March, 2021.

State Legislature:

A long time heavily union-influenced Republican legislature finally recruited enough new lawmakers in November 2020 to give them a pro-parent power super majority, which allowed them to shed their union loyalty and enact a law bringing choice to every child in West Virginia for the first time ever.

Constitutional Issues

The West Virginia Supreme Court, in a vote of 3-2 overturned the decision of the Kanawha County Circuit Court judge and ruled the Hope Scholarship Program constitutional. The Hope Scholarship Act into law in 2021. It provides money for a variety of educational expenses, including tuition and fees at participating private schools and other educational activities. While West Virginia is one of only 13 states without Blaine Amendment, but the court nevertheless claimed the program was unconstitutional based on the ideology that it undermined the state’s ability to deliver public education by sending money to follow students, which is not the case.

Learn More:

Institute for Justice: West Virginia School Choice and State Constitution

Transparency

School report cards are easily accessible by clicking the Education Data tab on the main page of the West Virginia Department of Education website. Report cards are easy to understand and navigate by school districts, including a “scorecard explained” tab which is helpful for parents.

Educational options are not easily accessible.

School board elections are not held during the general election cycle, which usually means lower voter turnout.

Download State Rankings

State Organizations

PPI Resources

Evaluate Your Schools

Stay Informed

Select Your State

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

District of Columbia

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

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.