Florida Ranks High on Education Freedom Report Card, But is Your State Struggling?

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has another reason to brag about the Sunshine State.

Staff at the Washington, D.C.-based Heritage Foundation this week published a report that ranks states by their level of freedom in public education, factoring school choice, transparency, regulatory freedom, and spending.

Florida ranked No. 1.

“Parents are rightly upset when schools indoctrinate their kids with woke racial and gender ideologies that do not reflect their values and contradict the ideals that make our republic great. School lockdowns contributed to greater mental health problems among students and forced masking disrupted learning,” according to an email that Heritage staff sent followers on Friday as they announced the report. 

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“Parents are fed up with these oppressive and divisive policies coupled with lower achievement. The [COVID-19] pandemic made it abundantly clear that families need more education options than our rigid district school systems offer or education elitists allow.” 

Heritage’s rankings (from best to worst) include:

1. Florida
2. Arizona 
3. Idaho 
4. Indiana 
5. South Dakota 
6. Mississippi 
7. West Virginia 
8. Montana 
9. Louisiana 
10. Tennessee 
11. Utah 
12. Texas
13. Arkansas 
14. Georgia 
15. North Carolina 
16. Alabama 
17. Missouri 
18. Oklahoma 
19. New Hampshire 
20. Virginia 
21. Wyoming 
22. Iowa 
23. South Carolina 
24. Vermont 
25. Nevada 
26. Maine 
27. Michigan 
28. Nebraska 
29. California 
30. Kentucky 
31. Delaware 
32. Wisconsin 
33. Colorado 
34. Ohio 
35. North Dakota 
36. Kansas 
37. Pennsylvania 
38. New Mexico 
39. Minnesota 
40. Oregon 
41. Hawaii 
42. Illinois 
43. Washington State
44. Rhode Island 
45. Alaska 
46. Connecticut 
47. Massachusetts 
48. Maryland 
49. New Jersey 
50. New York State 
51. District of Columbia 

Heritage ranked Florida as “a state that embraces education freedom, respects parents’ rights, and provides a decent return on investment for taxpayers.” Heritage credited Arizona for its recently expanded education savings account (ESA) program. 

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But Heritage also said New Jersey, New York, and the District of Columbia do little to provide transparency, accountability, and choice to families.

Heritage staff members said on their website that they formulate and promote public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.

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