Dive Brief:
- The conservative non-profit American Legislative Exchange Council has given each state a grade based on its education policy, and Indiana takes the top spot with a B+.
- The report card assesses states on a slew of topics such as homeschooling options, strong charter and voucher laws, academic standards, teacher quality, and digital learning.
- ALEC supports free markets, limited government, and federalism, which means many of its top-rated states are those with flexible school choice programs.
Dive Insight:
Interestingly, Indiana came in first place with an aggregated B+, despite the fact that it received a C- for state academic standards (it dropped the Common Core and replaced it with what many saw as the same thing with a different name), a B- for teacher quality and policies, and a C for digital learning. Scoring so low on such important components like standards and teachers, but still coming out on top because of high scores around school choice definitely indicates where ALEC's head is at. In second place, with a B, was Florida, which also has strong school choice laws.