A new report shows Montana is lagging behind 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—Montana only has an index score of 3 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.
To Big Sky Country’s credit, it does provide some state children with access to education choice through the Montana Special Needs Equal Opportunity Education Savings Account Program and the Tax Credits for Contributions to Student Scholarship Organizations program. The first program, launched in 2024, is open to Montana students with special needs, of which 12 percent of state children are eligible. The second, a tax-credit scholarship program, is theoretically open to all Montana children, but due to a budget cap of $6 million in 2025, only roughly 2,700 students—or just over one percent of the state’s K–12 student population—have true access to the program. Further, both programs combined only provides Montana families with just 53 percent of the funding that would have gone to their child in one of the state’s public schools. Hence, Montana’s score of 3 on the Friedman Index.
To significantly improve Big Sky Country’s index score and catapult it into the vanguard of the education choice movement, Montana lawmakers should consider streamlining and combining their two school choice programs into a single, universal education savings account (ESA) program, open to all Montana children. Further, they should significantly increase its budget appropriation and ensure that each account award matches the per-pupil expenditure that would have gone to a public school student.
Copious empirical research on school choice programs like ESAs makes clear these programs offer families improved access to high-quality schools that meet their children’s unique needs and circumstances. Specifically, these programs improve academic performance and attainment while delivering quality education at lower cost than traditional public schools.
Additionally, education choice benefits public school students and taxpayers by increasing competition, decreasing segregation, and improving civic values and practices. Research also shows students at private schools are less likely than their public school peers to experience problems such as alcohol abuse, bullying, drug use, fighting, gang activity, racial tension, theft, vandalism, and weapon-based threats. There is also a strong causal link suggesting private school choice programs improve the mental health of participating students.
Education choice programs like ESAs are not only good policy—they are also broadly popular. EdChoice’s Public Opinion Tracker, last updated on August 11, shows 68 percent of all Montana adults and 73 percent of Montana parents with school-aged children are in favor of ESA programs.
Further, a truly universal ESA program is sorely needed in Big Sky Country because the state’s public schools are habitually failing Montana’s children. In 2024, only 40 percent of Montana’s public school fourth-graders and 32 percent of eighth-graders tested “proficient” to grade-level proficiency in mathematics on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) examination, colloquially known as the “Nation’s Report Card.” Just 32 percent of fourth-graders and 31 percent of eighth-graders tested “proficient” in reading. Essentially, and embarrassingly, the state’s public schools are failing to educate roughly seven out of every ten Montana children to grade-level proficiency in reading and math by the time they are about to enter high school.
The goal of public education in Montana today and in the years to come should be to allow all parents to choose which schools their children attend, require every school to compete for every student who walks through its doors, and make sure every child has the opportunity to attend a quality school that best fits their unique needs and circumstances.
Simply put, states with robust and expansive school choice programs will be more attractive to families who have the ability to migrate to the state of their choosing. How many families who are considering a move to will decide against moving to Montana because it doesn’t offer their children the opportunity to attend the school that best suits their educational needs? Big Sky Country legislators should recognize this and convert their school choice programs into a single, universal ESA program and significantly increase the funding toward that program, allowing all current and future Montanans as many options as possible to get their children the education they need and deserve.
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.