Libertas is launching a new project: the Education Report Card.
Why I Built the State Report Card Series
I spent 14 years inside public schools as a teacher and principal. For the last 4 years I’ve been on the other side, working at Libertas Institute advocating for school choice and microschools. But, I’m also a homeschool father of five. That combination of insider knowledge, homeschool parent, and policy experience gives me a unique perspective on the state of education across the country.
Parents deserve a clear, honest picture of what their state actually allows. I want them to know what the law says, what their family can actually do, and where the state is making it harder than it needs to be.
That’s what I try to answer in the State Education Report Card Series.
What I’m Grading and Why
I chose three categories. Each reflects a different dimension of education freedom. In each section I offer a policy recommendation. This is not based on what I think is the best policy, but what I think someone could likely pass to advance education freedom.
Education Choice Policy covers the full range of options families have beyond their assigned public school. I focus on Education Savings Accounts and voucher programs that put funding directly in families’ hands. I’m looking at who is eligible, how much follows each student, and how freely families can use it. However, in many instances Charter School and open enrollment policies may need to be more robust.
Microschools are small independent schools, usually 15 students or fewer, often started by former teachers or parents. What makes them hard to open isn’t usually money. It’s regulation: zoning laws, fire codes, and licensing requirements. In this category, I’m grading on regulatory burden. Low burden equals a high grade. Unnecessary regulation is a school that didn’t open.
Homeschooling has changed. Modern homeschoolers build custom paths from co-ops, online courses, tutoring, and community programs. I look at what the state requires before families can homeschool and what it makes available to them. Can they access scholarship funds? Can their kids join public school extracurriculars? A state that lets families operate freely and access resources earns a high grade.
Each report card includes an Extra Credit section for policies that are unusual, leading-edge, or rare enough that most states haven’t tried them. I’m looking for laws that reflect a genuine commitment to parental rights in education.
Florida’s first-in-the-nation Classical Education Teaching Certificate is a good example. The school determines teacher fitness for the model. No other state has done that. That’s Extra Credit.
How I Grade
Grades reflect one principle: maximizing freedom and options for families. Are parents able to choose the best education for their child? How easily can they make those choices? How easy is it to create new options? Maximum freedom for parents is the goal.
An A means that the state has enacted laws that I think are the best available to promote education freedom. An F would be the opposite of that. Most states will likely land between a B and D. However, some states are leading the way in parental freedom in education. A few are actively making it more difficult. This series is trying to make this visible.
Yes these grades are subjective, but they are all based on my unique background as a public school teacher and principal turned education choice and microschool advocate. By all means point out any errors or considerations I left out.
Every state will get a report card. The question is the same for all of them: do you trust parents or don’t you?
