This piece was written by Kevin Garcia-Galindo, Policy Associate at The LIBRE Initiative
The LIBRE Institute believes education should give every student the resources they need to discover, develop, and deploy their unique gifts. Because each child has different strengths, passions, and aspirations, no one-size-fits-all system can meet every student’s needs.
Parents, not politicians, are the ones most invested in their child’s success, and therefore the best positioned to make decisions about their education. That’s why families need the opportunity and resources to access a broad range of educational options like public schools, private schools, charter schools, microschools, homeschools, or any hybrid model.
The 2025 LIBRE Institute poll showed that Latinos are eager for these options. Over 77% of Hispanic voters support school choice, and nearly 40% say they would select a private school if options were available. Given that Latinos are the fastest growing demographic in recent U.S. history, their views and opinions will play an integral role in deciding the future of school choice and its funding.
The following report on the landscape of educational choice funding across the country details exactly where students are the most well-funded to explore a vast range of educational choices are.
Executive Summary
Among states that have adopted school choice programs, they can be divided into three separate categories of funding: Fully Funded, Largely Funded, and Partially Funded.
- Fully Funded: Universal programs that ensure that money is available, or will soon be available, for every student who wishes to participate in the school choice program. Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Indiana, North Carolina, New Hampshire, and Ohio all have fully funded programs.
- Largely Funded: These programs fall into two categories—those who have kept their program fully funded so far but are likely to spark appropriations battles in the near future as participation grows, and those that are not fully funded but will likely cover the majority of interested students. Alabama, West Virginia, Oklahoma, and Wyoming have largely funded programs.
- Partially Funded: Programs that only have funding to cover a minority of interested students. Idaho, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Texas have partially funded programs.
Key Takeaways
- Largely Funded or Partially Funded programs bar students and families from choosing the educational choice option that best fits their individual needs.
- Programs that rely on annual appropriations create a volatile environment and risk leaving families without access.
- Demand for more school options consistently exceeds funding in states where Fully Funded programs are not available, underscoring the need to fund every student regardless of their parent’s income or other factors.
