The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has released the 17th edition of the Report Card on American Education. The annual report offers detailed data and statistics on state reform efforts, academic achievement, and achievement gaps in pre-K-12 public education.
And no report card would be complete without grades!
For the second year in a row, North Carolina earned an education policy grade of C. This year, that was good enough to tie for 31st in the nation. Grades in major policy areas included the following:
State Academic Standards – C
Charter School Law – D
Home School Regulation Burden – C (Moderate burden)
Overall Teacher Quality and Policies – D+
North Carolina received extra points for allowing charter schools, operating a state virtual school, and raising state standards between 2003 and 2009. The report also recognized the state’s achievement on the fourth- and eighth-grade math portions of the federal National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
Overall, the highest achievers were Missouri (A-), Florida (B+), and Minnesota (B+). In the Southeast, Georgia (B), Louisiana (B-), South Carolina (C+), Kentucky (C), and Mississippi (C) had higher grades (according to numeric score) than North Carolina.
ALEC and the Heritage Foundation will be co-hosting a release event at 10 am today. The event, “Grading the States on School Choice,” will be streaming live from Washington D.C. and include remarks by Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC).
