(The Center Square) – Arizona ranks second in the nation in education freedom, according to a new index.
The American Legislative Exchange Council released its index last week, highlighting the states with the most education freedom.
Florida beat out Arizona for the top spot.
The Sunshine State received a score of 94.37, earning an “A+.” Arizona got a score of 89.12, obtaining an “A” grade.
The other states to round out the top five were Arkansas, Iowa and West Virginia.
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said his state deserves to be No. 1.
“Our Empowerment Scholarship Account program is incredibly successful. We have grown from 11,000 students when I took office in 2023 to more than 100,000 now,” Horne told The Center Square in an email. “On school choice, we give more freedom than any other state, including Florida.”
“The entire nation looks to our Empowerment Scholarship Program and its Director, John Ward, for guidance on how to implement scholarship programs,” he added.
In fiscal year 2026, Arizona will spend $10 billion on K-12 spending, including $1 billion on its universal school choice program.
Andrew Handel, ALEC’s director of education and workforce development task force, said the index covered five categories: student-centered funding, charter schools, home schools, virtual schools and open enrollment.
Student-centered funding accounted for 40% of the overall score a state received, he explained, adding that the other four categories accounted for 15%.
Arizona scored “top marks” in the student-centered funding, charter schools and open enrollment categories, Handel told The Center Square.
The state received an A in all these categories.
According to the report, Arizona needs to improve on homeschooling and virtual schools.
Handel described Arizona’s homeschool laws as “really strong,” but noted that the state still requires students to be taught certain subjects.
“From an education freedom perspective, it’s best that subjects aren’t mandated [and] we’re trusting parents and putting them in charge and empowering them to decide what they’re going to teach their kids when they’re homeschooling,” he said.
Handel said numerous states, including Florida, have created “repositories of virtual courses” for parents and school districts to use.
These repositories are a “really good way to help make those courses more accessible,” Handel said.
He added that virtual repositories are helpful for rural school districts “who might not have the resources to offer virtual classes.”
Arizona does not have a virtual repository, he noted.
Historically, Arizona has always ranked high in ALEC’s education freedom rankings.
Last year, Arizona came in second, with only Florida beating the state.
“Arizona’s always been on the cutting edge of education freedom,” Handel said.
