The Heritage Foundation has released its 5th annual Education Freedom Report Card, and the divide between states in our region is increasing. The separation is not based on how much they spend on education, but on how much authority they give families over their students’ learning.

Heritage’s report measures each state on 5 distinct categories: education choice, academic transparency, teacher freedom, return on investment, and civics. These combined scores across all categories result in the education freedom ranking for each state. This serves as a measurement for parents and students of how well each state advances education reform.

The latest results place Florida in its number one position (for the 5th consecutive year), followed by Arizona and Arkansas, with Idaho coming in 4th overall and 8th in education choice.

Just a few years ago, Idaho ranked 18th in the 2024 report. The remarkable turnaround into one of the nation’s leaders in education freedom is in part due to the success of the state’s Parental Choice Tax Credit Program, which created a refundable tax credit that allows eligible families to receive up to $7,500 per student for qualifying education expenses. Idaho has also demonstrated top Heritage rankings in the return on investment category due to its frugal per-pupil spending combined with comparatively strong academic performance.

Moving up 4 spots and ranking 21st on the 2026 Education Freedom Report, Wyoming offers another success story demonstrating how quickly the education landscape can change. In 2023, Wyoming was near the bottom of the country in education choice, ranking 44th in that specific category. After lawmakers created the state’s initial education savings account program in 2024, Wyoming jumped dramatically.

In 2025, the program expanded into the Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act, a universal school choice program created to provide eligible students with funds that can follow them to educational options outside their assigned public school. The overall progression of school choice options netted them the 17th pick in the education choice category for this year.

Montana’s school choice options, education savings accounts for special needs students, freedom for homeschooling families, and relatively strong marks for return on investment earned the 18th spot on this year’s Education Freedom Report and 13th in the education choice category. They would have scored higher if not for the 42nd ranking in teacher freedom, which is limited by the state’s lack of license reciprocity and limited alternative certification options.

Then there is Washington, falling down the list to a dismal overall ranking of 40th.

While its neighbors continue to expand their options, Washington remains steadfast in its lack of education freedom. Heritage has consistently placed the state near the bottom of the Education Freedom Report list due to its lack of education options, ranking 48th in the school choice category for the second year in a row. There are no education savings accounts or tax-credit scholarship programs, and the already limited small charter-school program experienced additional budget cuts last legislative session. Excessive regulations on homeschool families were also factored in.

With statewide public school enrollment shrinking, the only school choice Washington parents have made is to disenroll their students and independently pursue education alternatives.

It is an unfortunate reality that students struggling in a traditional public school classroom in Spokane are not eligible for the same educational options as a student across the border in Coeur d’Alene. Shouldn’t a rural eastern Washington family be given the same level of flexibility as one in Montana or Wyoming?

In Washington, the policy question is answered by who gets to make the decision about what works best: the system or the family.

Supporters of traditional public schools, the teachers’ union, and majority lawmakers argue that expanding choice reduces resources and enrollment in district schools. While these concerns deserve serious consideration, the states excelling in education freedom in the Mountain West provide Washington with concrete examples to examine rather than forcing the debate to remain theoretical.

The broader trend identified by Heritage is unmistakable. In 2025 alone, Idaho, Wyoming, Tennessee, Texas, and other states created or significantly expanded private education-choice programs. Heritage estimates that roughly 1.2 million students were participating in private-school-choice programs by 2025, more than double the number in 2020.

The Mountain West is becoming a useful experiment in what happens when states give families more control over education. While Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming are testing different versions of that idea, Washington faces the reality of more families leaving the public school system or relocating to neighboring states that support parent empowerment.

Meg Goudy is Director of the Bill & Milly Kay Baldwin Center for Education at the Mountain States Policy Center, an independent research organization based in Idaho, Montana, Washington and Wyoming. Online at mountainstatespolicy.org.