Minnesota ranks 33rd nationally in education freedom report

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(The Center Square) – Minnesota ranked 33rd nationally in a new report from The Heritage Foundation on “education freedom.”

The state’s ranking on education choice brought its score down significantly, coming in at 44th.

Jonathan Butcher, the conservative think tank’s acting director at its Center for Education Policy, explained the low rankings in an exclusive interview with The Center Square.

“Minnesota ranks 33rd overall with little to offer parents in school choice apart from charter schools and homeschooling,” Butcher said. “These are important options, for sure, but more than half of all U.S. states have some form of private school scholarship opportunity, as well. This is why Minnesota ranks 44th, near the bottom, on school choice.”

The report card also considered transparency, teacher freedom, return on investment, and civic education.

“In three of our other categories, Minnesota ranks at 25 or below,” Butcher said. “State lawmakers should look to neighbors such as Iowa for policies to empower parents to choose how and where their children learn.”

Across the categories, Minnesota ranked:

• 44th in education choice.

• 25th in transparency.

• 18th in teacher freedom.

• 38th in return on investment.

• 30th on civic education.

For the fifth year in a row, Florida topped the rankings.

“The state’s expansive – and inclusive – school choice options, along with strong civics content and curriculum transparency policies keep this state in the lead,” Butcher said.

Florida was followed by Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, and Iowa in the top five.

“Arizona ranks first in teacher freedom for its policies that empower professionals to enter the teacher workforce,” Butcher said. “Louisiana ranks first in civic education having updated its social studies standards several years ago with rigorous content.”

Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island and Maine ranked at the bottom, scoring consistently low across all five categories.

Butcher argued that broad access to education savings accounts is becoming an increasingly important measure of education freedom, especially when it comes to school choice.

“To be considered a state that gives families and students quality learning options, it’s not enough to have small, narrowly-focused private school choice options,” he said. “Eighteen states allow every child within the state’s borders to apply for an education savings account – every child. This is the new measure of success for state policymakers.”

The Heritage Foundation hopes, particularly those that scored poorly, will view the report as a sign of the need for urgent policy changes.

“Lawmakers must put a renewed focus on civics instruction,” Butcher said in the report.

That was another category that brought Minnesota’s overall score down, coming in at 30th.