Defending Education has released its first-ever rankings of how well states protect the integrity of education, and the results show a sharp divide between states that prioritize traditional values and those that do not. Fox News’s report ranks all 50 states and Washington, D.C. across six categories: parental rights, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), gender and sexuality, teacher and union policies, and foreign influence. Tennessee topped the overall rankings, followed by Alabama, Florida, North Carolina and Iowa; Washington, D.C. ranked last, followed by Rhode Island, California, Oregon, and Illinois.
The rankings do not include test scores or graduation rates. Instead, they measure how states handle issues that advocates have raised concerns about over the last five years.
The Categories At A Glance
Here is what each category covers:
| Category | What It Measures |
|---|---|
| Parental Rights | Laws giving parents a say in school decisions |
| Diversity, Equity and Inclusion | Initiatives related to DEI |
| Gender and Sexuality | Policies around LGBTQ-specific curriculum and transgender athlete participation |
| Teacher and Union Policies | Rules governing teachers and unions |
| Foreign Influence | Laws limiting Chinese government influence |
| Overall Rank | Combined score across all six categories |
Who Led The Rankings
Tennessee came out on top overall, followed closely by Alabama, Florida, North Carolina and Iowa. These states scored highly across multiple categories, particularly in areas like parental rights and teacher policies.
Washington, D.C. ranked last, followed by Rhode Island, California, Oregon, and Illinois.
Parental Rights And Teacher Policies
In the parental rights category, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia tied for first. That means four states shared the top spot in how much they allow parents to shape education.
Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina each earned perfect scores on teacher policies. That suggests these states have enacted strong laws governing teacher conduct and union activity.
DEI And LGBTQ Issues
Iowa, Missouri and West Virginia led the DEI category for laws restricting DEI initiatives, restorative justice, teacher diversity and antisemitism. Those states scored highest in limiting programs that promote race-based or gender-based approaches to education.
Alabama, Florida and Indiana tied for the highest scores on policies blocking LGBTQ-specific curriculum, restricting transgender athlete participation and state nondiscrimination/anti-bullying laws related to gender identity. These states scored highly in areas where other states have moved toward more inclusive policies.
Foreign Influence
Seven red states—Alabama, Florida, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas—received perfect scores on laws limiting Chinese government influence. The report examines laws governing Confucius Institutes, China-backed language and cultural education centers.
What The Authors Said
Paul Runko, senior director of strategic initiatives at Defending Education, said the report gives parents a single resource to see how states handle issues they have raised concerns about over the last five years. He framed the rankings as a tool for families rather than a formal assessment of school quality.
Dr. Terry Stoops, director of government affairs at Defending Education, congratulated the frontrunners but blamed elected leaders in low-ranking states for sacrificing educational excellence at the altar of social justice. He urged parents in lower-ranked states to fight or flight if they value rigor over social justice initiatives.
How The Rankings Were Built
The report does not explain its methodology beyond the categories themselves.
What This Means For Parents
The report is designed to help parents understand where state education policy stands. It does not measure student performance or graduation rates, so it tells families what laws govern schools, not how well students are learning.
The report is a snapshot of what states have done. It is not a verdict on what states should do. It is also not a measure of how well students are learning, since test scores and graduation rates are not included.
The ranking reflects Defending Education’s priorities, not an independent measure of school quality. The report is a useful starting point for families who want to know what their state is doing, but it should not be mistaken for a comprehensive picture of how well schools are performing.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs none of this and instead says: Let parents raise their children as they see fit, keep schools free of foreign influence, and leave test scores and graduation rates alone, for they measure the real work of education. Defending Education has published a ranking of how well states defend education, but the paper’s position on culture holds steady: what consenting adults do that harms no one else is nobody’s business, least of all the government’s.
The ranking measures laws on parental rights, diversity initiatives, teacher policies and foreign influence. The paper supports medical cannabis but is against cheering recreational legalization or the commercial marijuana industry, and that same caution applies here: a ranking built on categories the paper has no settled view on, with methodology unexplained beyond the categories themselves, cannot settle the paper’s position on any of it.
What the paper wants instead is clear: let families raise their children as they see fit, keep schools free of foreign influence, and leave test scores and graduation rates alone. Readers should watch for rankings that measure what matters—how well students learn—and not be fooled by reports that measure what Defending Education has chosen to care about instead.
Source material: “States leading nation on the biggest education battles gripping classrooms revealed in first-ever report,” Fox News.
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