California is falling behind in education reform. Out of a top score of 100, the new 2025 Index of Economic Freedom of the American Legislative Exchange Council gave it an overall score of 29.66 for “parental empowerment,” earning a “D” grade. It ranked 33rd of the 50 states. Tops was rival Florida with an 89.87 score and an “A+” grade. ALEC is a free market-oriented think tank that produces model legislation for state legislators.
Five categories comprised the scale: Education Freedom Programs, Charter Schools, Homeschooling, Virtual Schooling and Open Enrollment. The Golden State performed best on home schooling, with a “B” grade. “That’s from the practicality and ease of starting home schools,” Jonathan Williams told us; he’s a co-author of the index and ALEC’s executive vice president of policy.
It was disappointing to see a “C” grade for charter schools. Three decades ago California was the second state, after Minnesota, to enact charter reforms with legislation sponsored by Sen. Gary Hart, a liberal Democrat. Jerry Brown, first as mayor of Oakland, then governor, also championed charters. But over the last decade charter schools, which are public schools largely unencumbered by the red tape of the state Education Code, have stalled at 11% of state K-12 students.
Williams blamed restrictions on charter authorizations imposed by the Legislature at the behest of the powerful California Teachers Association. One was Assembly Bill 1507 from 2019, which limited establishing charters outside a chartering school district. And he said charters “do not receive equitable funding compared to traditional public schools.”
On the measure of Virtual Schooling, California also received a “C” grade. Williams said such states as Florida and Arkansas, the top two with “A” grades, already had such programs in place before COVID-19 kept kids at home. California has not expanded such programs, an embarrassment for the world’s high-tech leader, no doubt as part of its ongoing deference to teachers unions.
Open Enrollment means allowing students to easily move to other districts for an education. California scored a “D” on this front. It makes no sense to keep kids isolated in one district, especially because most funding is based on where the student goes to school.
Our state’s worst grade of “F” was scored in Education Freedom, meaning programs where the funding follows the student, including to charters or private schools, much as college scholarships and grants are given to the student, not the school. California has no such programs.
California’s overall problem, Williams said, is it continues to empower the teachers unions instead of the students. He pointed to the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress, in which only 33% of our 4th graders scored at or above “proficient” in math. That was 4 points behind the national average, 21 points behind leader Massachusetts and 18 points behind second-place Florida.
Williams said California parents need to insist on empowering themselves. He pointed to the 2022 recall of three radical school board members in liberal San Francisco as an inspiration. To meet global challenges, the teachers unions’ sclerotic control over education in California must be replaced by parental control.