Florida tops state-by-state education freedom report card; Louisiana most improved

The third annual Education Freedom Report Card from the Heritage Foundation is out, detailing the best and worst states for school choice and parental rights in the United States.

The report ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia according to their policies on education choice, curriculum transparency, teacher freedom, parental rights and return on investment for K-12 education.

Florida tops the list, with the best overall rank and a strong performance in every subcategory.

Louisiana showed the most improvement, jumping to No. 4 overall from 18^th last year. The state also moved to eighth place from 25th in the “education choice” category, largely due to its enactment of a universal K-12 education savings account program this year.

States such as Louisiana, Wyoming and West Virginia receive recognition in the report card for their improvements, as well as recommendations for improvement.

But not every state has moved forward on education choice this year. 

A quick scan of the list and use of the report’s state comparison tool reveal that Washington, Hawaii, Connecticut and Oregon maintain the poorest rankings due in part to a lack of affordable alternatives to public schools. These states’ infusion of progressive political beliefs surrounding race and gender into curriculum factored into Heritage’s ranking, since learners who disagree with these ideas are left with few alternatives. 

Connecticut currently ranks second-to-last overall, 49th for return on investment and 45th for teacher freedom. 

Oregon ranks dead last, outranking Connecticut for transparency and return on investment, but receiving dismal scores for teacher freedom and education choice. 

Heritage expressed hope that its annual report card would serve “as a reminder of the great opportunities that can be available to all, children, no matter their Zip code or family income, when policymakers demand a greater effort for the sake of students.” 

The report card is among a growing number of tools offered from Heritage to policymakers, parents, and students interested in finding states and institutions that are friendly toward a variety of K-12 educational options and the diversity of ideas in K-12 and college settings. 

Other tools include a state legislation tracker for parents and college guide for prospective students and their parents.