New Report Ranks States on Education Policies Amid Ongoing Culture Wars

Defending Education unveiled its inaugural Rankings on Integrity in State Education, evaluating every state and Washington, D.C. across five categories: parental rights, diversity, equity and inclusion, gender and sexuality, teacher and union policies, and foreign influence. Tennessee earned the highest overall score, followed by Alabama, Florida, North Carolina and Iowa, while the District of Columbia placed last, with Rhode Island, California, Oregon and Illinois near the bottom.

In the parental-rights category, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia tied for first, receiving points for laws that give parents control over gender-transition and sex-education decisions. Teacher-policy scores favored Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina, reflecting restrictions on unions and collective bargaining. The DEI category was led by Iowa, Missouri and West Virginia, which have enacted limits on DEI programs and related initiatives.

Alabama, Florida and Indiana topped the gender-identity and transgender-athlete measures, and seven red states received perfect marks for curbing Chinese government influence in education. Defending Education’s senior director Paul Runko said the rankings provide parents a single resource to evaluate school policies, while government-affairs director Terry Stoops praised top performers and warned that low-scoring states have sacrificed educational excellence.