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States That Could Advance School Choice Policy In 2025

Leo Migdal
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states that could advance school choice policy in 2025

Welcome to the Wednesday, December 18, Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day: A version of this story appeared last week in Ballotpedia’s education newsletter, Hall Pass. Sign up to stay informed on the latest education policy and school board politics news. Thirty-eight states will kick off their 2025 legislative sessions in the first three weeks of January. The number of students in private school choice programs has grown in recent years as mostly Republican-led states have created or expanded programs that accept all or nearly all students.

However, school choice proponents have failed in recent years to get legislation enacted in GOP-controlled states like Idaho, Tennessee, and Texas. In those states, rural Republican lawmakers have argued private school choice policies won’t benefit their districts, which tend to lack private schools. School choice advocates have racked up state legislative victories in recent years so extensive that the results speak for themselves. At the beginning of 2020, there were education savings account (ESA) programs operating in only five states, while approximately a dozen states offered parents access to private school vouchers. As of the start of 2025, there are now more than 30 states offering ESAs, education vouchers, and other school choice programs like tax credit scholarships. As most state legislatures convene new sessions, the historic expansion of school choice in the U.S.

that has taken place in recent years is poised to continue in 2025. While most of the recent legislative victories for school choice proponents have occurred in GOP-led states, there are still a number of large, red states, including the most populous red state, where families still... During the last legislative session in 2023, a bill to create an ESA program in Texas passed out of the Senate but stalled in the Texas House. During the subsequent 2024 primaries and general election, more than a dozen members of the Texas House who blocked the 2023 ESA bill were replaced by candidates who campaigned on their support for school... Thanks in large part to Governor Abbott’s efforts to get more supporters of school choice elected to the statehouse in 2024, Abbott and others are confident the votes are now there to enact school... “School choice is wanted by all demographic groups in the state of Texas,” Governor Abbott said in a statement on November 6, the day after the 2024 general election.

“Hispanics and African Americans in the state of Texas, they strongly support school choice. Those parents want an option. They know their child better than any government employee does, and they want to put their child on the pathway toward success. School choice improves educational opportunities for minority and low-income students. Texas is going to make sure they have that opportunity. With last night's election results, Texas will finally be able to provide school choice for every Texan, while continuing to support our public schools and enhancing job training education to ensure our students are...

Many believe that failure to pass Governor Abbott’s school choice proposal last session was a key factor contributing to Representative Dade Phelan’s (R) inability to be reelected Texas House Speaker in December. The contest to replace Phelan as Speaker has come down to two likely candidates: Representative Dustin Burrows (R) and Representative David Cook (R). The old one-size-fits-all model is being replaced — one state at a time. The traditional American K-12 education model is failing kids by not preparing them to leverage their unique gifts and contribute to society. And with over 80% of Americans supporting school choice, the path forward is clear: Families deserve the power to choose the best education for their kids. In 2025, New Hampshire passed Senate Bill 295, expanding its Education Freedom Accounts to every K-12 student.

“Now, thanks to our state leaders, parents have the opportunity to access the education that will be the best fit for their children’s unique needs.” — Sarah Scott, AFP-New Hampshire deputy state director State officials must decide in the coming years if they’ll participate in the first major federal program that directs public funds to private schools. Congress in July included a tax-credit scholarship in the One, Big Beautiful Bill Act, allowing taxpayers to claim tax credits in exchange for donations to organizations that grant private school scholarships. Until now, all major private school choice programs have been state-level initiatives. But the federal tax-credit scholarship forces all states and the District of Columbia to decide on private school choice, whether they currently have a choice program of their own or don’t. Four governors have said they plan to opt into the federal tax-credit scholarship, and three have said they won't participate.

Forty-three governors and the mayor of the District of Columbia have not formally decided, according to an Education Week analysis. Under the new law, individual taxpayers can claim a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for up to $1,700 in donations to nonprofit organizations that award scholarships so K-12 students can attend private schools. Huge historical legislative victories have occurred over the past four years, advancing school choice in states nationwide. In some states, the wins have entailed the creation of new school choice programs, while in other states, it has involved expanding existing programs to reach more students. Most noteworthy has been the enactment of universal or near-universal school choice in 12 states since 2021. The public education monopoly isn’t working, and it is failing to fulfill its function to a greater degree than in years and decades past.

There is a better way: education freedom, which allows parents to choose the school or other learning avenue that best fits their unique child. A few years ago, widespread school choice was nearly unimaginable, but historical education freedom has occurred: Laws supporting access to private school choice come in various forms, including private school scholarships, education savings accounts, and tax-credit scholarships. Public school choice avenues that allow students to enroll in a public school other than their residentially-assigned district school include intra-district (within the district) open enrollment, inter-district (outside the district) open enrollment, magnet schools,... School choice continues to make significant progress across the country. Texas just made headlines with Gov.

Gregg Abbott signing Senate Bill 2 into law, establishing education savings accounts that could be used by up to 90,000 students during the program’s first year to help pay for homeschooling, virtual learning programs,... Another often overlooked but crucial part of school choice is K-12 open enrollment, which lets students attend any public school with available seats. On that front, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders recently signed an open enrollment bill letting public school students attend any public school inside their residentially assigned school district that has vacancies. This builds on the state’s 2023 LEARNS Act, which allows students to transfer to public schools in other school districts. So, students in Arkansas can now choose to attend any public school that has open seats.

Strong open enrollment laws weaken the tie between housing and schooling, making it easier for students to choose publich schools that are the best fit rather than the schools they are assigned by their... In addition to Arkansas’ new law, open enrollment proposals in Texas, New Hampshire, and Alaska have already passed one legislative chamber and could become law this year. With 16 states now having strong public school open enrollment laws, here are three of the most important reasons other states should push this form of school choice to help tens of millions of... #1 Open enrollment helps students go to public schools that are the right fit. As the nation celebrates National School Choice Week, the school choice movement is on the cusp of hitting a major milestone. By the end of 2025, it is likely that more than half of K-12 students nationwide will be eligible for private school choice.

In the past five years, the number of students benefitting from school choice has more than doubled. In 2020, fewer than 600,000 children nationwide were accessing the learning environment of their family’s choice using a K-12 education savings account, tax credit scholarship, or school voucher. Now there are about 1.2 million K-12 students benefiting from school choice. Source: EdChoice, “ABCs of School Choice: 2025 Edition” Much of this enrollment growth has been driven by the recent rise in universal school choice policies, which make every K-12 student in the state eligible. In the past five years, the number of states with a publicly funded universal school choice policy has increased from zero to 11.

Additionally, Montana has a privately funded tax credit scholarship policy for which all students are eligible, and more than 95% of Indiana students are eligible for a school voucher. Nationwide, more than 27% of students are currently eligible for some form of publicly funded private school choice, including K-12 education savings accounts and school vouchers. If we include tax credit scholarship policies, which create an incentive for taxpayers to contribute to nonprofit scholarship organizations, then about 37% of students are eligible for private school choice.

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