Democrats pretend to own the education issue because they shovel money into schools and the pockets of teachers unions. But the numbers show that Republican-led states are getting better results in education for less.

Mississippi’s embrace of phonics led to the state’s fourth graders performing the highest in reading scores when adjusted for race and inflation. It is the highest-ranked state for fourth-grade math and reading, and eighth-grade math, while sitting in the top five in eighth-grade reading. Mississippi also ranks third in teacher freedom. Florida is ahead of Mississippi in that category and ranks third in reading scores, while Louisiana ranks second.