For the past year, my phone hasn’t stopped ringing from callers wanting to learn more about how Mississippi improved its public schools.
Frustrated by sagging reading and math scores, educators, advocates and lawmakers across the country are curious about reforms that transformed Mississippi from a national punchline into a leader in reading and math proficiency—policies I spent much of my career championing.
Democrats, however, don’t often ask me how to replicate Mississippi’s success; they ask if it’s possible at all, given the power of teachers’ unions in their home states. As one audience member skeptically asked me at a recent panel discussion: “You’ve done your work in a red state. Do you really think blue states can do this?”
My answer is unequivocally yes, even if blue-state politics may make Mississippi-style reforms harder to pass.
