New report ranks state lawmakers on public education support

The Network for Public Education has released a new state-by-state report on how lawmakers support public schools, with North Carolina near the bottom and only Nebraska and Vermont earning A grades. The findings link more aggressive privatization policies with weaker public school support, poorer teaching conditions and greater risk of misuse in voucher programs.

Why it matters: - The report ties state policy choices directly to public school conditions, teacher quality and student protections. - The findings suggest that voucher and charter expansion often moves alongside weaker investment in public schools. - The ranking gives lawmakers, educators and voters a simple measure of how states are treating public education.

What happened: - The Network for Public Education released Public Schooling in America, a report grading state lawmakers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia on their support for public schools. - North Carolina ranked behind every state except Arizona and Florida. - Nebraska and Vermont were the only states to earn an A. - Florida and Arizona ranked lowest, followed by North Carolina and Louisiana, all with F grades. - Most southeastern states received an overall F, with Mississippi as the exception. - Mississippi has drawn national attention for gains in NAEP reading and math scores and for resisting voucher expansion.

The details: - The report scored states on 102 possible points across four categories: privatization, protections for homeschooled students, school funding, and conditions for teaching and learning. - Privatization carried the most weight at 58 points and measured voucher and charter expansion, student protections and safeguards for taxpayers. - NPE examined how lawmakers expanded vouchers, including education savings accounts, charter schools and other market-based alternatives to public schools. - The report also reviewed the legal and regulatory guardrails protecting students and families who use private, voucher-accepting schools. - States with limited voucher regulation were found to create fertile ground for fraud. - In Arizona, an audit of the Empowerment Scholarship Account program flagged almost 84,000 cases of misspending between December 2024 and October 2025. - ABC15 reported purchases that included diamond necklaces, lingerie, jet ski rentals, gaming consoles and designer purses. - The conditions-for-teaching-and-learning category measured qualified teachers, teacher attractiveness, student-to-teacher ratios, student-to-counselor ratios and protections against discrimination and physical punishment. - The report found a statistically significant positive relationship between teacher attractiveness and the share of qualified teachers. - Kentucky, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming ranked in the top decile for both teacher attractiveness and qualified teachers. - Arizona, the District of Columbia, Louisiana and North Carolina ranked worst on both measures.

Between the lines: - The report argues that privatization and disinvestment are linked, not separate trends. - The analysis found a strong, statistically significant negative relationship between expanded privatization and public school support, with p < 0.0001. - The report also links privatization to weaker teaching conditions and poor teacher pay. - Strong education support was not limited to one party, with some of the highest-scoring states led by lawmakers from both major political parties.

What's next: - The report gives state officials a new benchmark to compare education policy heading into future legislative sessions. - States that scored poorly may face pressure to tighten voucher oversight, improve school funding and address teacher shortages. - Advocates for public schools are likely to use the rankings to push back against privatization efforts.

The bottom line: - The report says states that expand private-school alternatives tend to undercut their public schools at the same time, and the worst outcomes are showing up in funding, oversight and classroom conditions.