ALEC Releases 23rd Annual Report Card on American Education

ALEC Releases 23^rd Annual Report Card on American Education

Arlington, VA, September 19, 2019 – Today, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) released its 23^rd Annual Report Card on American Education. ALEC releases the Report Card each year, which ranks states on their current K-12 education and policy performance. The 23^rd edition is authored by Scott Kaufman, the ALEC Director of the Education and Workforce Development Task Force.

The ALEC grades assigned are an assessment of state education policy across six factors:

1. State Academic Standards
2. Charter Schools
3. Homeschool Regulation Burden
4. Teacher Quality and Policies
5. Digital Learning
6. Private School Choice Programs

School choice ranking methodology includes an assessment of the size and scope of the school, purchasing power, and flexibility and freedom. This year’s Report Card focuses on the non-academic effects of educational choice for the purpose of outlining the positive and long-term impact school choice has on families and children.

The top five states or districts highlighted in this report are Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Georgia and the District of Columbia. The five worst are Nebraska, North Dakota, Hawaii, South Dakota and Alaska. All five of these have remained at the bottom for more than three years. Alaska has recently gone from bad to worse in the key factors determining education success: dropping from an ALEC GPA grade of 2.67 in 2011, to 1.67 in 2016 and now to 1.33 in 2018.

The American Legislative Exchange Council is the country’s oldest and largest membership organization of state legislators in the country. ALEC serves as a forum for good ideas to be developed.

“Ensuring that the next generation receives a quality education of their own choosing does not only improve outcomes, reduce criminality, and give students a greater sense of self-worth, it helps form more well-rounded citizens,” Kaufman stated. “This has been shown in study after study and our very Republic depends on it. “

The mission of the ALEC Education and Workforce Development Task Force is to promote excellence in the nation’s educational system, to advance reforms through parental choice, to support efficiency, accountability, and transparency in all educational institutions, and to ensure America’s youth are given the opportunity to succeed.

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The American Legislative Exchange Council is the largest nonpartisan, voluntary membership organization of state legislators in the United States. The Council is governed by state legislators who comprise the Board of Directors and is advised by the Private Enterprise Advisory Council, a group of private, foundation and think tank members. For more information about the American Legislative Exchange Council, please visit: www.alec.org.