The Heritage Foundation believes Alabama is one of the top states in the country when it comes to educational freedom.

Earlier this week, the conservative think thank released it’s 2026 Education Freedom Report Card, which ranks how well states advance education freedom for K-12 students and families.

Alabama ranks No. 9 in overall education freedom, the same as in 2025.

“In the backdrop of the Trump administration working to wind down the U.S. Department of Education, states like Florida and Iowa have met the moment by reclaiming more education responsibilities, which our nation’s Founders always intended, and providing families with more education choice.” Heritage Foundation president Dr. Kevin Roberts said in a statement about the report. “More states need to provide families with K-12 education savings account programs that allow them to choose learning environments that align with their values and work best for their children.”

According to the report, the Yellowhammer State did particularly well when it comes to “return on investment” in education.

“Alabama ranks fifth for return on investment (ROI) in education spending,” the report states. “Alabama spends the 43rd-most (meaning the ninth-least) per pupil—$13,478 in cost-of-living-adjusted terms annually. Although Alabama ranks a low 43rd and is tied with Arkansas for its combined fourth-grade and eighth-grade math and reading average NAEP score, the Yellowhammer State employs 3.19 teachers for every non-teacher in its public schools. Alabama’s unfunded teacher pension liability represents 6.3 percent of its state GDP. To improve its ROI ranking, Alabama should focus on improving academic outcomes on the NAEP and lowering its unfunded teacher pension liabilities.”

Alabama also moved up in its  Education Choice Rank, but also outlines where the state could improve in the area.

“Alabama ranks 20th in education choice, up one spot from 2025,” the report says. “Alabama does very well in empowering families to choose among private schools, especially since it enacted an education savings account (ESA) policy in early 2024 that will be available to all K–12 students in 2027. Additionally, Alabama generally respects the autonomy of homeschooling families.”

Alabama’s CHOOSE Act education savings account program received a record number of applications for the 2026–27 school year.

The application period closed March 31 with 29,341 applications representing 48,927 students. Of those, 18,832 were new applications covering 29,986 students, while 10,509 were renewals representing 18,941 students.

“Alabama could improve its ranking by boosting participation in its private education choice policy,” the report continues. “allowing families to save their unspent ESA funds for future educational expenses, making it easier for more charter schools to open and operate, and giving families more choices among traditional public schools beyond their assigned school.”

On area the Heritage Foundation focused on in its report is civics education, which the group believes is more vital than ever in America.

“Lawmakers must put a renewed focus on civics instruction. In his first inaugural address, George Washington said our Republican model of government was an ‘experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.’ This experiment will fail if we do not help the next generation understand the fundamental pairings of faith and virtue, as well as freedom and responsibility. These are the traits held by civic-minded individuals,” Jonathan Butcher, acting director for Heritage’s Center for Education Policy said in a statement. “Educators have a responsibility not only to impart skills such as reading, addition, and subtraction but to teach knowledge. Rich content—in civics, as well as math, reading, science, and other core subjects—is essential to helping students succeed in school and in life.”

Alabama ranks 16th in civic education, which is down one spot from 2025.

“Alabama requires high school students to complete a half-year course in civics,” the report states. “Students in Alabama must pass a civics or citizenship test to graduate from high school. Alabama has an average number of classical education schools per capita. The Classic Learning Test (CLT) is not yet used for admissions purposes at state universities. The CLT is a college-entrance exam administered by Classic Learning Initiatives with an emphasis on classic texts, grammar, and quantitative reasoning. Expanding test choice beyond the SAT and ACT is essential to restoring merit in higher education admissions.”

Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee