Group Offers Broad, Critical Review of State Policy on Teacher Quality

The policies that states use to govern the teaching profession are outdated, both too inflexible and not rigorous enough, and often privilege the interests of teachers over those of students, an encyclopedic review of state regulations of the field released today concludes.

The review grades all 50 states and the District of Columbia in six areas of policy, for a total of more than 1,300 grades, but finds no state worthy of more than two B’s. Most earned a mix of C’s, D’s, and F’s.

Tied for best-performing states were Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Texas, but the reviewers still considered them “weak.” Alaska and Maine were tied for worst, followed by Montana,...