The South has been known for decades as the leader in college football. Many of our national champions have been southern schools. Finally, after years of reform, the South can also be proud of their public school reforms.

After decades of subpar performance in the classrooms, the South is leading the way in education reforms which has resulted in the South leading the nation in public school education improvements.

Frederick Hess recently wrote in National Review about education progress in the South. Nationwide, the public education system is falling behind in reading proficiency. This year, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) revealed that the US fourth graders, as a whole, scored the 4th worst reading scores in 20 years. 40% of the students scored below the basic proficiency level. The scores were 33% lower than the basic proficiency level for 8th graders.

Remember, this is occurring while many public schools are involved in grade inflation that fools the public into believing that the schools are doing a better job. (Manatee County is familiar with this)

Things are different in the South. Two southern states, Alabama and Louisiana, were the only states that had reading scores higher than they were in 2019. After adjusting for state demographics, Mississippi fourth graders topped the nation in math and reading. Alabama was first in math recovery and third in reading recovery.

What is causing this southern surge? Unlike their northern counterparts, the southern states do not focus on social issues. Rather, they focus on the basics like phonics-based early literacy instruction and they refuse to lower the bar.

What specifically are the states doing that is helping this positive change? Mississippi is embracing phonics while refusing to pass students who cannot read. They are also adopting literacy training for teachers while providing literacy coaches for schools that need additional support. They also require new teachers to pass a “Foundations of Reading” assessment.

Louisiana requires elementary school “leaders” to complete training in the “science of reading.” They emphasize phonics, vocabulary and oral reading.

These states have focused on literacy and the results are pointing to success. This approach is not “hip.” It is about “basic skills, hard work and rigorous instruction.”

It is also interesting to note that these school systems spend less per student than the underperforming northern schools. The old standard for education systems was the northern school systems. Sadly, these school systems have been captured by graduates of northeastern universities. These systems, like Massachusetts, have focused on equity and have actually “lowered the bar” by eliminating graduation requirements. New York is now following this trend by eliminating graduation tests.

Many of these school systems have adopted “equitable” grading policies. These policies often include giving no zeros for missed assignments, no penalties for turning in late work and unlimited retakes on tests. These Democrat policies are not loved by many teachers who recognize that this inevitably leads to bad outcomes.

These policies do not level the playing field, they just make the school systems look better. The end result is a graduate that is not prepared to function or advance in society.

The southern surge has given us some interesting observations. Because many school systems employ low-performing teachers, the curriculum is very important. Incompetent teachers who follow a good curriculum can teach children. This is important where you have school systems that refuse to fire incompetent teachers. The South has adopted a curriculum not based on “woke agendas” but rather on what will best accomplish the goals.

For our country to be strong economically and militarily, we need students to graduate with competency skills to help them in life. Thankfully, the South is leading the way while the northern states are following the Democrats down the path to lower and lower educational outcomes.