Strong Teachers’ Unions Linked to Weak Student Literacy Levels
18th September 2026
States with strong teachers’ unions are the least likely to adopt policies that improve early-literacy outcomes, Progressive Policy Institute Education Policy Director Rachel Canter explains, reporting the results of the Institute’s analysis.
“Powerful teachers’ unions are an obstacle to reform. But Mississippi’s dramatic breakthrough proves that evidence-based literacy can succeed anywhere,” Canter writes in her Wall Street Journal article, “Mississippi Fixed Its Schools. Here’s How Other States Can Too.”
Canter presents the new policies that helped rocket Mississippi, from a last-place tie in fourth grade reading and math in 2019 to seventh in reading and 13th math in 2024, as a template for states looking to improve their early education results.
Many states haven’t adopted these policies, Canter writes, noting the differences between those states that do, and don’t, embrace the reforms – such as the degree of influence of teachers’ unions.