Most of us, circumstances permitting, can escape poor policy. Taxpayers burdened with high state income taxes, unaffordable property taxes, or lackluster job opportunities have the option to elect more capable leaders. Or, if things get bad enough, embrace the tenents of federalism and move to a more affordable and efficient city or state.
Children have no such option. Students attending a failing public school can’t vote for better teachers or lobby for a better-run school district. And no matter how bad things get, most families in failing schools don’t have the resources to attend a better one, or one simply better suited for their needs. And the uncomfortable reality, it’s low-income and minority students who are most often forced to attend failing schools.
Fortunately for all those students, that is changing.
Thanks to SPN, and our partners across the country, student-centered and common-sense education policies are being passed in multiple states, and more and more students are getting the opportunities they deserve.
The Education Renaissance Continues
This year, five states passed universal school choice laws. With the help of the SPN partners in these states, their students will finally be able to attend the schools that will best serve their needs and equip them for success.
- Tennessee: When Governor Bill Lee signed Tennessee’s universal school choice legislation in February, 2025, it represented the culmination of over 10 years of work from the Beacon Center of Tennessee. Through policy research, media appearances, op-ed placements, social media campaigns, and other outreach to legislators and taxpayers, Beacon’s team successfully laid the groundwork for school choice in the Volunteer State. The first big victory came in 2015 when the state passed its Education Savings Account (ESA) program for students with special needs. Then in 2019, the state expanded the program to 15,000 students. And this year, every K-12 student in Tennessee will have access to $7,300 for education-related expenses, including tuition to schools that best serve their needs. SPN has been highly active in this win as well, supporting Beacon with several targeted investments as well as campaign support and targeted coaching.
- Texas: Everything’s bigger in Texas, including the school choice programs. This year, Governor Greg Abbott signed the Texas ESA program into law. The program gives Texas students up to $10,000 per year for education-related expenses, students with disabilities will receive up to $30,000. This victory was largely made possible because of the incredible work from the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF). For years, TPPF worked with lawmakers to show the benefits of ESA programs. TPPF’s research, legislative testimony, strategic engagement, grassroots mobilization, coalition building, and original content helped get this Texas-sized choice program over the finish line. SPN was able to assist in this effort through a targeted investment to TPPF, as well as individualized strategy coaching.
- New Hampshire: When New Hampshire passed their ESA program this year, they didn’t just give new options to New Hampshire students; they provided a template for ESA programs in every state. Instead of designing the program around enrollment caps set by the legislature, New Hampshire’s ESA program is tied to the state education funding formula. This means every student wanting to participate will have the option to—without being stuck on a waiting list for years. This incredible victory was made possible in large part because of the coalition building and work of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy. Their long-term strategy not only led to an ESA program in New Hampshire, but an ESA program that has become a model nationwide.
- Wyoming: This year, Wyoming’s leaders listened to families desperate for better education options and passed the Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act. These scholarships provide students up to $7,000 for education-related expenses. However, despite the program’s potential to help thousands of Wyoming students, teachers’ union and public-school special interest groups challenged it in court. Unfortunately for families, the unions won a preliminary injunction, pausing the program while it made its way through the courts. But SPN partners are standing up for Wyoming families. EdChoice and the Institute for Justice are fighting to keep the Scholarship Act alive.
- Idaho: In 2025, Idaho passed their first education choice program when they enacted their refundable tax credit. The policy provides all students up to $5,000 for education-related expenses. That credit increases to $7,500 for students with a disability. Helping get this program passed was a coalition of organizations, including the Idaho Freedom Foundation, Mountain States Policy Center, and EdChoice. SPN assisted the coalition and win with a strategic investment and targeted coaching. SPN was pleased to support this effort through a targeted investment, as well as coaching through our various peer groups.
With these five new victories, a total of 17 states across the country now have Universal School Choice programs on the books. And states like Utah are expanding their choice programs thanks to the work of the Libertas Institute. Much more needs to be done to ensure students nationwide have access to quality educations that best serve their needs. But the fact that so much progress for school choice has been made in the last few years is a sign of even more incredible results to come.
Defending students’ ability to learn
As important as it is to win victories for education freedom, it’s equally—if not more—important to defend those victories from the entrenched powers protecting the status quo.
For example, when school choice opponents in Arkansas tried imposing new regulations that would have rolled back much of that state’s school choice progress, Opportunity Arkansas was ready. Opportunity Arkansas’ expertise on the state’s ESA program (called Education Freedom Accounts) is unmatched, thanks to their role in educating lawmakers to help get the law across the finish line. So, with the help of SPN strategy coaching, they were uniquely positioned to quickly mobilize resources and educate families around the state on the threat these new regulations posed to Education Freedom Accounts. In the end, because of Opportunity Arkansas and their quick reaction, Education Freedom Accounts remain fully intact and fully serving students.
In addition to threatening school choice in the legislature, school choice opponents often try to use the courts to restrict students’ school options. That’s exactly what happened in South Carolina when the state supreme court sided with teachers’ unions and blocked their new ESA program even though the school year had already begun. But thankfully for students, the Palmetto Promise Institute jumped into action. Palmetto raised private funds to supplement the scholarship funds put in jeopardy. And Palmetto’s team also worked with lawmakers to pass legislation that addressed many of the issues from the legal case. The result was an even more robust and widespread school choice program for the state. Also, because of this incredible work, Palmetto Promise won SPN’s 2025 Bob Williams Award for Biggest Win for Freedom.
For years, SPN has been beating the drum on the importance of not only passing school choice programs but properly implementing them. These examples of defensive wins are the perfect model as to why that is so important. As states look to tighten their budgets in 2026, our Network is ready to continue to defend these hard-won victories.
Championing Louisiana education transparency
It’s a cliché, but sunshine is the best disinfectant. The ability of taxpayers, watchdogs, the media, and state leaders to see how tax dollars are being allocated and spent is the best way to ensure proper, honest, and responsible spending.
That’s why, when Louisiana created the “Louisiana Checkbook,” watchdogs applauded. The Checkbook is a tool that allows the public to track expenditures, funding sources, contracts, and economic incentives for every different function of the Louisiana state government.
But the checkbook had a glaring omission—public schools.
Transparency-minded state legislators and the Pelican Institute for Public Policy attempted multiple times to include public schools in the checkbook. Unfortunately for taxpayers, these attempts were defeated due to push back from public school administrators. But Pelican refused to stop fighting, and in 2023, a bill was finally passed enacting a searchable online portal for all funds being spent by the state’s government-run schools.
After over a year of development, the state unveiled the new online tool this year, which multiple state leaders and members of the Pelican team contributed to. As Pelican’s Senior Vice President, Erin Bendily explains, “The portal not only allows users to explore all revenues and expenditures statewide and by school system; they can also perform a keyword search by category (e.g., “textbooks,” “transportation,” or “technology,”) and by vendor or contractor. The system allows for comparison among school systems and can display financial information alongside school performance indicators and rankings. The site serves as a helpful tool to school systems that may want to achieve greater efficiencies in certain areas by learning how their peers have been successful in doing so.”
Now, thanks to the Pelican Institute for Public Policy, Louisiana taxpayers have a full and clear view of how their schools are being operated and how their tax dollars are serving their students.
Defending education freedom in Illinois
Unfortunately, attacks on education freedom and school choice are often sold as simple administrative changes or harmless bureaucratic adjustments. But after looking deeper into their impact, their true intent comes through.
Thankfully for Illinoisans, the Illinois Policy Institute is one of the most proven and capable SPN partners at looking deeper into threats to taxpayers and liberty.
And it’s because they looked deeper into a proposed change for Illinois’ homeschooling laws that they were able to sound the alarm on a major threat to education freedom. HB2827, nicknamed “the homeschool bill” purported to make some simple adjustments to reporting and regulatory requirements for families who homeschooled their children. However, for anyone looking at the bill’s actual provisions, it was clear how much of a threat it represented for homeschool families.
HB2827 would have enacted incredibly broad and intrusive reporting requirements for homeschool families. The bill would have required families to provide the state with their religious affiliations, creating dangerous (and unconstitutional) precedents. The bill also would have allowed the state to demand homeschool families provide the “education portfolio” they were using to teach their student at any time and for any reason. Many of the bill’s provisions created a system where homeschool families were under stricter policies and regulations than public school teachers and administrators.
Also, the language of the bill was dangerously ambiguous, which presented the opportunity for unpredictable, uneven, and changing enforcement across the state (or depending on which state administrator was doing the enforcing).
Because of all these issues (and many more), the Illinois Policy Institute launched a well-planned campaign against the bill which included research, content production, testifying in front of the legislature, and outreach to families who would be impacted. SPN was able to provide personalized coaching to the team to help them achieve their goals.
Because of their efforts, HB2827 garnered a record amount of negative feedback from residents. And thanks to that citizen response and the Illinois Policy Institute’s well-planned campaign, HB2827 failed to gain traction in the legislature and died.
Always fighting for the future
There are few policies that have further-reaching or longer-lasting impacts than education policy. The students of today become the leaders of tomorrow. And the leaders of tomorrow shape the lives of our future generations.
Students can’t vote, lobby legislators, or donate to initiatives to improve their conditions. That means it’s on us. It’s our responsibility to make sure students’ voices are heard, their needs are seen, and their lives aren’t dictated by their zip code.
Thanks to SPN and our 50-state Network, those voices are being heard. At a record pace, students are gaining access to education options that better suit their needs and successfully prepare them for life.
These battles will continue, and this work is perennial. But even though there’s so much left to do, it is heartening to see so many victories come to fruition. As the New Year approaches, and states are facing increased funding responsibilities for programs like SNAP and Medicaid, our opponents may use this as an opportunity to roll back our hard work. Our Network was built for moments like this, and stands equipped and ready to push back against poor public policy.