Friday Feature: Education Freedom Report Card
It’s been said that states are the laboratories of democracies, which means they can pursue various public policies without inflicting them on the entire country. If the policy works, presumably other states will follow suit. And if people prefer the policies of a different state, they can move there.
In recent years, we’ve seen this concept at work when it comes to educational freedom. From fights to legalize homeschooling to the first school voucher and charter school laws to the birth and spreading of education savings accounts (ESAs), educational freedom has been on the march. And once parents get a taste of it, they’re typically reluctant to cede back any of that freedom.
While we know this has been happening, the Heritage Foundation’s new Education Freedom Report Card gives us a comprehensive, interactive platform to see just where states rank on a variety of metrics: education choice (40% weight), regulation (20%), transparency (20%), and spending (20%). Each main category contains several sub‐categories that drive the rankings. The site is very user friendly, with a clickable map, sortable rankings, and side‐by‐side comparisons.
It’s no surprise that Florida ranks first on the report card. Florida is home to a wide variety of school choice programs, including vouchers, ESAs, charters, and open enrollment. It also has a high level of regulatory freedom, academic transparency, and, according to the Heritage methodology, a high return on investment for education spending.
Arizona placed a close second; the rankings were based on the situation before Arizona passed it’s universal ESA program this year. Since Arizona’s #13 ROI ranking was the main cause of the state’s second‐place finish, it’s unclear if the universal ESA will be enough to move to the top spot.
At the other end of spectrum, New York and Washington, DC claimed the bottom rankings. While DC’s scholarship program and charter schools earned it 25th place for school choice, the other metrics dragged them down to last place.
Not everyone who uses the report card is likely to agree with the categories chosen or how they were evaluated. Heritage scholar Jonathan Butcher, who contributed to the report card, says, “The metrics we used gave us a great snapshot of right now. Those will change over time. We want it to always give the best picture we can on education freedom.”
According to Jonathan, they plan to update it each year and possibly add new elements. He hopes lawmakers will look at the report card, see what’s happening in other states, and bring good policies to their states.
We’re already seeing a friendly rivalry among states competing to give parents more educational options. The report card—and the chance to move up in the rankings each year—will likely inspire more policies that support educational freedom. That’s good news for kids, their families, and teachers.