Florida, for the fifth consecutive year, ranks No. 1 in overall academic freedom, according to The Heritage Foundation’s 2026 Education Freedom Report Card.
The report ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on five criteria: school choice programs, teacher freedom, academic transparency, return on investment of the state’s education spending, and civics education.
Florida was followed by Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, and Iowa. The last, notably, jumped from 44th to eighth in civics education this past year.
The worst-performing states were Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, and Maine, with this being Maine’s second year at the bottom.
In individual categories, Florida ranked No. 1 in both school choice and transparency, Arizona ranked No. 1 in teacher freedom, Idaho ranked No. 1 in return on state investment, and Louisiana ranked No. 1 in civics education.
Civics education has become a national concern as a 2026 report claims only 22% of eighth grade students have a proficient understanding of U.S. history.
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Part of Louisiana’s civics success is due to its requirement that all high school students take a yearlong civics course and pass an equivalent of the U.S. naturalization test before graduating.
“Lawmakers must put a renewed focus on civics instruction,” Jonathan Butcher, acting director for Heritage’s Center for Education Policy, said. “This experiment will fail if we do not help the next generation understand the fundamental pairings of faith and virtue, as well as freedom and responsibility.”
As federal education regulation loosens, Kevin Roberts, president of The Heritage Foundation, said states need to reclaim responsibility for their students’ education, beginning with promoting school choice.
“More states need to provide families with K-12 education savings account programs that allow them to choose learning environments that align with their values and work best for their children,” Roberts said.
Its broad school choice policies are one thing that makes Florida stand out from other states, according to Butcher.
“Florida has one of the largest and most inclusive—in the true sense of the word—school choice environments in the country,” Butcher said. “Some other states have adopted education choice but put limits on how many students can exercise these options, and this creates a two-tiered system: Those with choices and those without.”
The Heritage Foundation’s Education Freedom Report Card aims to promote an education system that mirrors the American Founders’ ideal of a “pluralistic, decentralized, and largely privatized patchwork of schools, academies, tutors, and church-based institutions,” according to The Heritage Foundation website.
“Our report card should motivate lawmakers to improve academic transparency, make it easier for qualified professionals to enter the teaching workforce, adopt rigorous civics content, and create school choice opportunities that allow every child to participate,” Butcher said.
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