Opinion: Secretary Cardona’s Wisconsin bus tour falls flat. We need pro-parent policies.

Earlier this month, US Education Secretary Miguel Cardona kicked off his back-to-school bus tour in Wisconsin, before proceeding through the Midwest on his way back to Washington. His aim was to make the case that spending increases “accelerate academic success” and highlight the Biden-Harris administration’s “historic investments” in public education. But if Democrats want to persuade Americans that their policies are working, they shouldn’t be looking to highlight education in Wisconsin.

Why? Because spending more taxpayer money on schools and keeping information from parents — policies supported by this administration — have been detrimental to students, especially in the Dairy State.

On The Heritage Foundation’s brand-new Education Freedom Report Card, Wisconsin ranks 47th on academic transparency, which means parents must struggle to find out what their children are being taught in the classroom. In 2021, Gov. Tony Evers had the opportunity to change this and  allow parents and taxpayers to view school curricula, but he elected to veto that bill in its entirety.

Wisconsin ranks low on 'teacher freedom' index

Meanwhile, Wisconsin ranks only 34th on “teacher freedom,” which means that state regulates education providers and limits the innovative options they can provide students. This is largely because of the state’s onerous requirements that all educators pass a “Praxis test,” a teacher certification administered by the Educational Testing Service.

On top of all that, Wisconsin has even struggled to keep kids in school since the pandemic. Data from 2021-22 indicate that more than one in four high school students missed the equivalent of a month of school. In 2022-23, 24 percent of high school students across the state were chronically absent. In Milwaukee specifically, that figure jumps to a staggering 64.4 percent.

Miguel Cardona: Tax dollars that flow to choice schools take away critical funds for public education

Wisconsin is not alone, though. On President Biden and Vice President Harris’s watch, one-third of K-12 students are performing below grade level. It’s not exactly something to brag about, but that didn’t stop Cardona.

There is good news from other states, however, but not for the reasons Biden, Harris, and Cardona want to highlight.

Not so fast: Arguments that Wisconsin schools are underfunded fall flat. Data shows otherwise.

Our report card, which ranks states according to four categories — education choice, teacher freedom, transparency, and return on investment — saw Louisiana make the biggest improvement this year due to new policies that put parents and students first. For example, lawmakers created a new education savings account option for students that allows Louisiana parents to purchase different education products and services for their children. Families can use an account to buy textbooks, find education therapies for their student, choose a new school, and more.

Louisiana and Wyoming set example for pro-parent policies

Louisiana policymakers also protected parents and students with a new requirement that teachers inform parents if their child says they want to change their name or pronouns while at school. State officials even adopted a parent bill of rights, thus ensuring that parents get to be a part of any health decisions made concerning their children.

Wyoming made a jump in our rankings this year, too. By creating new education choices for students from low-income families, they joined 18 other states, such as Florida and Arizona (the top two states in our report) in offering American families the chance to choose between traditional public schools and a variety of education savings accounts account-style private learning options.

This is personal: Wisconsin school choice isn’t controversial among students and families it helps

Empowering parents. Offering students more options. Removing obstacles that prevent families from meeting each child’s unique needs. These are education innovations worth celebrating, and ones that states like Wisconsin should adopt if they want results to improve for students in their states.

By comparison, Cardona’s tour was more hype than hope. And the Biden-Harris administration’s attempt to boast about how much Washington can spend on schools while scores are still down and students are absent falls flat.

Americans are tired of throwing more and more of their tax dollars at a problem and seeing worse and worse results. Parents deserve to know the truth about school performance so they can make informed decisions for their children’s futures.

Kevin Roberts is the president of The Heritage Foundation. Jonathan Butcher is the Will Skillman Fellow in Education at the foundation.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Opinion: Heritage Foundation report card shows Wisconsin school issues