A new education report released Friday by the Heritage Foundation, an influential right-wing think tank, ranked Florida as the best state in the nation for “educational freedom,” with Arizona a close second, followed by Washington, D.C., New York, and most northeastern states will bottom out.

This claim, along with the fact that nearly all of the top 20 states on the list are dark “reds” and nearly all of the bottom 10 states are dark “blues,” is of particular interest to education watchers familiar with traditional educational performance assessments. may surprise you. But in the Heritage Foundation’s first Education Freedom Report Card, think tanks are evaluated according to a completely different set of criteria. It’s not about average student funding, teacher salaries, classroom sizes, etc., but how the state legislature makes it easier for students to drop out of public schools. How loosely regulated private schools and homeschooling are. How active and welcoming conservative parent advocacy groups are. and the frequency or loudness with which these groups claim that the school is indoctrinated their students.

Florida Department of Education swiftly celebrate But digging into the four main categories the report assessed: school choice, regulatory freedom, transparency, and return on investment reveals what that ranking means, and perhaps more. important things become clear. What are the conservatives’ long-term goals for public education?

In the Educational Choices category, Heritage’s primary focus is Educational Savings Accounts (ESAs). This is a form of school voucher that allows parents to opt out of public schools and use a certain amount of state funds (sometimes provided via debit cards) most of the time. educational expenses as they see fit; ESAs include charter schools, private schools, parochial schools, low-cost (usually low-quality) “voucher schools”, online schools, homeschooling fees, and unregulated “micro-schools” (where groups of parents pool resources). where you want to hire a tutor) or tutoring. The report’s methodology also notes that the percentage of children in the state who attend these schools as an alternative to public schools is included in the rankings, suggesting that families who choose traditional public schools are less likely to have educational “freedom”. It clearly suggests that it is not an example. The “choice” category is about how nonpublic schools are regulated, docking states that require accreditation, or the same level that is required in public schools. Points are awarded based on the test of

Regarding “regulatory freedom,” Heritage is considering whether the state will enforce “over-the-top regulation…in the name of ‘accountability.'” The main concern here seems to be teacher certification. without it Teaching degrees are ranked higher than traditional qualifications by more educators. The section also penalizes states where a high percentage of school districts employ chief diversity officers. That’s because, according to the report, such positions exist primarily to “provide political support and organization to one side of the debate on controversial issues of race and opportunity.”

In the third category, “transparency,” the report notes the “strong anti-critical racial theory” law, high engagement by groups such as Parents Defending Education affiliated with the Koch network, Provides comprehensive public access to training materials for staff, as well as the curriculum for States where Parents Defending Education reported “indoctrination incidents” (usually meaning education conflicts about racism) rank lower.

Finally, with regard to the “return on investment,” the report compares per-student spending not only to learning outcomes, but also to future tax burdens such as teacher pensions.

The report also includes a section containing model bills prepared by the Goldwater Institute, the Libertarian Law Firm’s Institute of Justice, and the Heritage Foundation itself, which will include more “anti-CRT” proposals, schools to train It covers more requirements for publishing teaching materials, and more or less larger ones. ESA voucher program. In its own model bill, Protect K-12 Students from Discrimination, Heritage proposes that schools “teach an ambitious and inspirational view of American history” to help black Americans in today’s world. Debunking the false argument that problems are caused by past injustices. Teachers and students, they argue, cannot be compelled to “discuss today’s public policy issues without their consent.”

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What is particularly noteworthy about this report is how closely most of its ranking criteria, which Heritage claims to publish annually, aligns closely with the broader education agenda of the Right. Over the past few months, nearly all of the issues addressed in this report have been highlighted as key action items for conservative education reformers. From promoting ESA as a preferred route to universal school vouchers, to replacing teacher credentialing to expanding education. An anti-CRT movement that now encompasses everything related to “diversity, equity and inclusion”.

In late June, Arizona passed a sweeping expansion of its own ESA policy, swiftly creating the most extensive school privatization plan in the country and immediately calling on other Republican-led states to follow suit. (Florida was ranked first overall in the Heritage report, but the authors enthusiastically point out that Arizona’s new ESA law “will definitely give Florida some competition next year.” )

Similarly, the report’s emphasis on alternative teacher credentialing highlights a major new focus of conservative activism. In February, the right-wing bill-maker American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) declared “alternative authentication” one of its “essential policy ideas” for 2022. Two months later, anti-CRT activist Christopher Rufo called on state legislators to rescind the requirement that teachers have degrees, saying college education programs help instill left-wing ideologies in teachers. Arizona passed a law in early July that allowed public school teachers to start teaching without a college degree. And in August, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis did the same, arguing that teacher qualification requirements were “too stringent” and that veterans in the process of earning a college degree could not be hired to teach in public schools. announced that it can

These education “reform” proposals, individually and collectively, are linked to a broader call for the privatization of education. This is sometimes vocally acknowledged, as when Rufo declared that the increasing controversy over public schools would help create an environment of “universal school choice.” The Heritage Report is part of a similarly long game, declaring in its opening paragraph that “America has never come closer to fulfilling Milton Friedman’s vision of universal educational choice than it does today.” doing.

Citing libertarian economist Friedman to frame the report is Friedman, who in a controversial career proposed abolishing Social Security, the Food and Drug Administration, medical licenses, and more. In a basic essay in 1955, as Heritage points out, Friedman argued that “government-controlled schooling” was incompatible with a freedom-loving society, and that public funding of education was a matter of public control. famously argued that it should be separated from The country has known it for generations.

As Duke University historian Nancy McLean writes, Friedman’s call for “educational freedom” led Virginia’s racists to adopt a “region-wide ‘massive resistance’ strategy” against integration. In the same 1955 essay, Friedman argued that school vouchers were segregated, as critics have long noted. and created a system of “white-only schools, color-only schools, and mixed schools” for parents to choose from. Friedman’s advocates, including EdChoice, the school privatization advocacy group he founded in the late 1990s, argue that the free-market educational competition will eventually “grow mixed schools” at the expense of the non-mixed. Migration takes place. (Assuming that integration advocates succeed in “persuading their views to others.”)

“Friedman may have been good at numbers, but when it came to social issues, he was a crackpot,” said Carol Corbett Burris, executive director of the Public Education Network. “The vouchers will solve all of the serious problems facing the school,” he argued, from discipline to buses to segregation, Barris continued. It was simply a claim based on disdain for government regulation.”

The theory has been tested and proven false, Burris said. “There is a jury. School selection in the form of charters and vouchers has not delivered on any of his promises. In fact, all evidence suggests they have exacerbated isolation. ”

By 1980, Friedman had declared that vouchers were merely a useful waypoint on the path to true educational freedom, including the repeal of compulsory education laws. In 2006, shortly before his death, Friedman told his ALEC audience that it would be “ideal” to “get rid of the public school system and get rid of all the taxes for it.”

For Heritage to use Friedman as its ideological roadster, public education advocates observe and articulate which state education systems the report ranks as the most valuable.

“The fact that the Heritage Foundation ranks Arizona second in the nation highlights the corrupted lens through which they view the world at a time when our schools are nearly the last to be funded in the nation. just do it,” said Beth Lewis, director of the advocacy group Save Our Schools. Arizona is currently leading a public referendum against the state’s new universal ESA law. “Milton Friedman’s dream-fulfilling legacy reveals an agenda to abolish public schools and put every child on a segregated school voucher.”

“This is a report that celebrates the state’s lack of funding for students,” agreed Andrew Spurr, president of the Florida Education Association, the state’s largest union of educators. Noting that it ranks 45th in the nation for average funding per capita, Spare continues: .”

This means, “The Heritage Foundation celebrates the ranking of underfunding public schools, demolition of public schools. We should not celebrate the fact that we are short of children.” think.”

“With this report, the Heritage Foundation puts its values ​​front and center, stating that the state’s spending on educating future generations of Americans should be an unregulated, free market to minimize and sustain. ” added Barris. quality. “It’s no coincidence that Florida and Arizona, the top two heritage states, ranked his number one,” Barris added. terrible It was featured in the Network for Public Education’s own report card this year.

“These two states are currently experiencing severe shortages of teachers due to their anti-public school agendas and do not require a college degree to teach,” said Burris. “Parents looking for the best state to educate their children should pick up this report card and turn it over.”