(The Center Square) – Only two states are better than Mississippi in teacher freedom, a report from the Heritage Foundation says
The Education Freedom Report Card put Mississippi 17th overall, and No. 3 behind Florida and Arizona in teacher freedom.
“A solid 47% of teachers in the state found their way to the classroom through alternative teacher certification options, and Mississippi has full reciprocity of teacher licensure with other states,” Heritage says. “Educators in Mississippi are required to pass the Praxis test, a teacher certification exam administered by the Educational Testing Service. There is little evidence that this assessment predicts teacher quality or effectiveness. No school district in the Magnolia State employs a ‘chief diversity officer,’ and Mississippi does not use Common Core-aligned assessments.”
Heritage encourages “eliminating the requirement for prospective teachers to take the Praxis exam.”
The overall ranking is down six spots, and the teacher freedom ranking is up one from last year.
Other category rankings are 20th in education choice, 25th in return on investment, 29th in transparency, and 39th in civic education.
Heritage bills itself as a nonprofit formulating and promoting “public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values and a strong national defense.”
