By: James V. Shuls
In an article for Real Clear Education, James V. Shuls, head of K-12 Education Reform at the Institute for Governance and Civics at Florida State University, highlighted the 2025 ALEC Education Freedom Index.
While celebrated by free-market think tanks and conservative or libertarian-leaning politicians, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) does not typically hold much sway with state Departments of Education. That, however, appears to be changing. The organization recently released its annual report, the ALEC Index of State Education Freedom, which ranks each state based on “education freedom programs,” such as charter school, homeschool, virtual school, and open enrollment policies.
With an A grade for charter schooling, virtual schooling, open enrollment, and robust private school choice options, it is no wonder that Florida tied for the top spot in the 2025 report. What stood out about this achievement wasn’t the ranking itself, but the way Florida’s leaders responded. The state’s Department of Education and its education commissioner, Manny Diaz, Jr., didn’t quietly note the honor—they celebrated it.
This public embrace of education freedom is rare in the world of public education, but it is exactly what we need to see if school choice policies are to become the norm nationwide.
More often than not, public school officials are openly hostile to school choice programs. For this reason, school choice advocates have long faced an uphill battle. Policies like charter schooling and Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) are often met with fierce opposition from entrenched interests that prioritize preserving the status quo over empowering families. Teacher unions, school boards, and even some state education department heads often argue that school choice policies drain resources from traditional public schools. Or they argue that non-public schools are not accountable when parents can freely choose whether to attend them, but the school is not fully regulated. These claims, though often overstated, fuel the resistance to change.