The Heritage Foundation today released the 2025 Education Freedom Report Card, which evaluates and ranks how well states advance education freedom for K-12 students and families. The 2025 Heritage rankings come after a landmark year of state legislative sessions that delivered wins for students and families.
Jonathan Butcher, acting director for the Center for Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation, praised the states at the top of the Report Card:
“Florida and Arizona have offered choices like these for decades, providing models for other states. With Texas giving its students more opportunities with its ESA program, this is a banner year for education freedom.”
“Our report card does not reward state lawmakers who ask taxpayers to spend more on assigned schools or who put limits on student options. We have highlighted the states where policymakers empower parents to choose high-quality opportunities for their children.”
Heritage’s Education Freedom Report Card ranks states based on several criteria, including education choice programs active in the state, teacher freedom, academic transparency, civics education, and the return on investment for the state’s education spending.
This year’s top contenders include:
- Florida: For the fourth year in a row, Florida ranked the highest in overall education freedom. Florida’s expansive education choice options are empowering parents across the state, and Florida’s focus on civics in recent years has been a model for the nation.
- Arizona: The state ranked second in education freedom, also for the fourth year in a row. More than 90,000 students are using an education savings account in Arizona.
- Texas: Texas jumped eight spots to seventh, largely thanks to lawmakers adopting a new education savings account option that allows every child in the state to apply for an account. With the addition of Texas’s new accounts, more than half of all children in the U.S. can apply for private learning opportunities.
- Louisiana: With a new education savings account program for students, Louisiana moved to fifth place in overall education freedom. It also ranked high in the categories of return on investment and teacher freedom.
Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Rhode Island rounded out the bottom of the list—with Maine last in education freedom.
Learn more about the Education Freedom Report Card here.
