Measuring Parent Power Because Parents Know Best

How do you measure the success of education policy?  Education policymakers have used high school graduation rates, college graduation rates, proficiency exams, per-pupil funding, and many many other measures.

Thanks to the Center for Education Reform, we can add a new one: the measure of parental options.  In its Parent Power Index, which measures states based on several elements of power” charter schools, private school choice, teacher quality, transparency, and online learning.

Measuring the education by access to educational options is a great way to measure how a state has reformed its education, since parents know best.

Not surprisingly, nine out of the top 10 states on the index are states with robust private school choice programs.  Ranking first is Indiana, which in 2011 enacted the Choice Scholarship Program.  In its second year, more than 8,500 students are going to a school of their parents’ choice thanks to the voucher program.

Also ranked in the top 10, Florida, Ohio, Louisiana, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C.—all home to strong private school choice programs from the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program and to the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, both of which boast high graduation rates.

Check out the Parent Power Index to see how your state ranks and how private school choice programs mean more parental power.

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MSG