States leading nation on the biggest education battles gripping classrooms revealed in first-ever report

Defending Education has published its first ranking of all 50 US states and Washington, D.C. on contentious education policies, including parental rights, DEI, gender and sexuality, teacher policies and foreign influence. Tennessee ranked first, while Washington, D.C. ranked last; the report focuses on how states handle these debates as parents seek more transparency, rather than on pupils’ academic results.

Alabama, Florida, North Carolina and Iowa joined Tennessee in the top five, while Rhode Island, California, Oregon and Illinois were among the lowest-ranked after Washington, D.C. Category leaders varied: four states tied at the top for parental rights, four earned perfect teacher-policy scores, and Iowa, Missouri and West Virginia led on DEI. Alabama, Florida and Indiana tied on gender-related policies, and seven states received perfect scores for policies limiting Chinese government influence in education.