Oklahoma is ranked #7 in the US in the 2024 Parent Power! Index, published by the Center for Education Reform (CER).
The Parent Power! Index measures the extent to which each state:
- has policies in place that put students ahead of systems;
- values the diversity of need and condition of every family;
- provides vital accessible information
- and, by doing so, affords parents the power to exercise fundamental decisions regarding how their kids are educated.
For the first time in two generations, programs and policies that give parents more power over their children’s education are accelerating across the United States, fueled not just by post-pandemic education concerns but a renewed understanding of the power of education opportunity and innovation, according to the 2024 Parent Power! Index from the CER.
Oklahoma scored an 82.1% ranking of parent power. In the Choice Programs category, Oklahoma ranked 7th. In the Charter Schools category, Oklahoma ranked 14th, and, in the Innovation category, Oklahoma ranked 16th. You can read more about Oklahoma’s results here.
In the three-year period beginning 2021 through April 2024, 26 new and expanded laws governing parental options, additional flexibility to innovate, and education transparency have been implemented. The result is at least another 600,000 students having access to a variety of learning approaches across all education sectors. The number is more than half the amount of the students who have, according to research, exited traditional public schools in the Covid era.
“Whenever parents are engaged, change occurs. Time and time again, we’ve seen that information in the hands of parents is power. When parents are able to make informed decisions about their children’s education, and states and communities are permitted to offer a myriad of pathways to enable those decisions, education works better for all students,” Allen said.
Florida (#1), Arizona (#2), and Indiana (#3) topped the parent power charts. Ohio (#4), North Carolina (#5), Utah (#6), Oklahoma (#7), West Virginia (#8), South Carolina (#9), and Wisconsin (#10) finished out the Top 10.
To measure how states provide parents with power this year, the 2024 Parent Power! Index evaluates not just whether programs exist but the extent to which state education funding follows students, regardless of where they receive an education. States are scored for the degree to which students are not only eligible to participate but have access through whatever funding mechanisms the states create. Programs where a significant population of parents can access scholarships or vouchers to send their children to the school of their choice score higher than those that have limitations based on geography, income, and student eligibility constraints. The Parent Power! Index derives its information from a variety of sources, including first and foremost from original research, secondly from respected organizations such as EdChoice, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, the National Council on Teacher Quality, and finally from news reports.
