A new report shows Florida is the leader in a nationwide education movement still building momentum.
According to the 2025 EdChoice Friedman Index—a new measuring system released in April by the titular education reform organization, which is designed to measure how much educational choice families in a particular state actually have—Florida takes the top spot, with an index score of 77 in a range from 0 to 100.
To measure a Friedman Index score, EdChoice uses three criteria. If a state meets all three criteria, it earns a score of 100 on the index. The first, “All Students,” measures whether “100% of the students in the state are eligible to participate in a choice program, with funding available for all who wish to participate (universal funded eligibility).”
The second criteria, “All Options,” measures whether “all choice students are able to participate in an education savings account-style program (ESA), which means families have the opportunity to use the taxpayer funds placed in their child’s account to offset tuition payments at private schools and to purchase educational goods and services outside of schools, (e.g. tutoring, textbooks, test fees, special needs therapies, etc).”
The third criteria, “All Dollars,” measures whether “average awards per choice student are equal to the average state and local revenue per public school student, which means that choice students receive the same amount of funding as public school students (sans federal funding), on average.”
The formula for calculating the Friedman Index is relatively straightforward. The percentage of students eligible for a choice program (with funding) is multiplied by the fraction of average dollar award per choice student divided by state and local revenues per public school student. This number is then multiplied by 100. If a state does not have an ESA or similar program permitting families to purchase education services “outside of school walls,” that state receives a five-point deduction from the formula.
The report provides examples to illustrate how the formula works. In the first example, the fictional state of Wakanda has two ESA programs in which a combined 50 percent of the state’s students are eligible for either program. Additionally, “the average ESA award among choice students across the programs is $8,000, and the public schools in Wakanda receive an average of $16,000 in state and local funding.” Applying those numbers to the formula, 50 percent is multiplied by the fraction of $8,000 divided by $16,000 and then multiplied by 100. So, 50 percent (.5) times 50 percent (.5) equals .25, which is then multiplied by 100 to yield a final score of 25.
The Sunshine State provides true, full eligibility to all Florida children through its three choice programs—the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options (FES-EO) ESA program, the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program for Students with Unique Abilities (FES-UA) ESA, and the Florida Tax Credit Education Savings Account (FTC) tax-credit funded ESA program. Over 380,000 children are currently enrolled in one of these three programs, by far the most of any state.
However, the average award for both FES-EO and FTC amounts to only roughly 77 percent of the state and local per-pupil funding that is provided to public schools. State legislators should move to bring the funding award for each of these accounts much closer to the public school per-pupil funding level.
(Disclaimer: My family makes use of the FES-EO program. Increasing the funding level of each Florida school choice program would, naturally, benefit me financially. However, I would support increasing program funding even if I were not participating in it.)
Florida has unquestionably been in the vanguard of the education choice movement in the United States over the last 20 years. To keep its position at the tip of the spear, Florida will need to ensure that the account funding level of its school choice programs matches the public school per-pupil state and local funding level going forward.
While Sunshine State lawmakers have already done so much to ensure this robust (and rapidly expanding) choice environment in Florida, their work is not quite finished. Enacting equal funding would be the last bit of major business that needs doing. Once that is accomplished, Florida’s private schools will be on a truly level playing field with charters and traditional public schools. Their success or their failure in this marketplace will be entirely based on the products they offer, the quality of care they provide students and families, and the results they produce.
Heartland Impact can send an expert to your state to testify or brief your caucus; host an event in your state; or send you further information on a topic. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if we can be of assistance! If you have any questions or comments, contact Cameron Sholty, at csholty@heartlandimpact.org or 312/377- 4000.
