Before you panic, thinking that our state is a failure and the sky is falling so we must do whatever they say to get our grade up... Remember that it is only their incredibly biased opinion.
This is not a report card on how well schools are doing, it is a report card on how well our elected officials are following StudentFirst's agenda.
It isn't a REAL report card. It is the opinions from a corporately-funded organization that wants us to fail so their donors can profit.
- No state received an A in any category.
- Vermont (with some of the highest test scores in the nation) received an F.
- Massachusetts (THE highest NAEP scores in the nation) received a D+.
- California (where StudentsFirst is really from) received a worse score than Tennessee. (So why don't they just stay in California and focus on "improving" their own grade???)
StudentsFirst gave the three TOP performing states on the NAEP Ds on its report card, including Massachusetts which is widely heralded as the best public school system in the country.
Why? Because these states don't offer enough opportunities for Michelle Rhee's pals to make a buck. A big buck.
Although StudentsFirst touts charters and vouchers as the solution, on average neither provide better outcomes for students than traditional public schools, and both drain funding from school systems.
~ Amy Frogge, MNPS School Board member