Southern States Shatter the Myth of “Underfunded” Public Schools

Originally published by Broad + Liberty.

Pennsylvania has a lot to learn about public education. And states like Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana offer this important lesson: Increased K–12 funding isn’t the panacea that so many claim it to be. 

Dubbed the “Surging South,” these three states have successfully improved reading and math test scores while also reversing post-pandemic academic losses and absenteeism. Louisiana ranks first in the country in post-pandemic reading improvements, while Mississippi tops the nation in math recovery. Alabama, where nearly a quarter of students qualified as “chronically absent,” now boasts the lowest truancy rate in the United States.

And they did it all with shoestring budgets.

Read more at Broad + Liberty.