US Chamber’s new Ed report will raise eyebrows

The US Chamber of Commerce just issued a new report, “LEADERS and LAGGARDS, A State-by-State Report Card on Educational Innovation.”

It takes a new approach to evaluating education in the 50 states using a number of statistics that have not been part of earlier discussions.

And, to be sure, the new report is going to create lots of discussion with its various findings, which include:

Rigid education bureaucracies impede quality schooling

State finance systems are opaque, inefficient, and undermine innovation

The teacher pipeline fails to provide a diverse pool of high-quality educators

Teacher evaluations are not based on performance

Major barriers exist to the removal of poor-performing teachers

The outcome of state technology spending is unknown

State data systems provide limited information on school operations and outcomes

Schools provide too little access to college-level coursework

Only one state, Hawaii, has created a student-based funding system

States lack a culture of education advocacy

It’s not so much that the findings are new surprises; in fact, we’ve been saying a lot of the same sorts of things for years.

But, in the past it was unusual for “main line” organizations to be so blunt and outspoken about these problems. Now, the US Chamber has opened the door wide.

Stay tuned for more, as the report cites some really interesting data for Kentucky.