(The Lion) — The school choice train is steaming ahead nationwide, and even blue states aren’t untouched.

School choice has touched all but eight states this year, a review by The Lion found, including three states that have approved it so far, 15 that already have broad school choice programs and another 24 that saw bills introduced in their state legislatures.

This even includes California, a solidly blue state that shot down Sen. Shannon Grove’s ESA proposal.

The California Education Flex Account Act “would have empowered families, not bureaucracies, and let the money follow the child,” said Grove, a Bakersfield Republican, after the measure was defeated. “The Senate Education Committee’s decision to kill S.B. 64 denies parents and students the chance to thrive in schools tailored to their needs.”

The bill proposed education savings accounts of $8,000 per student for parents to designate toward their children’s education, including at accredited private or religious schools.

The Golden State spends nearly $25,000 a year per public school student, yet ranks 37th nationally in education, Grove said, adding that failing schools disproportionately hurt low-income students of color.

“When given a choice, it’s proven they excel,” she said. “We will not stop fighting for that choice.”

Blue states take time

Republican lawmakers in Democrat-controlled states face obvious challenges, but that hasn’t stopped Grove and others from proposing school choice bills. They just know it might be a multi-year fight.

Legislation to create ESAs or taxpayer credit scholarships has been introduced in solidly blue states from Vermont to Washington. Most bills didn’t make it out of committee, but a few are still pending.

States such as Illinois and Minnesota are unlikely to approve school choice bills this year because they lean Democrat and have Democrat governors.

Red states pending

Some Republican and swing states are in play, but also have challenges.

Nebraska voters passed an anti-school choice ballot measure in November, but an ESA bill is still pending in the legislature, which adjourns in June.

New Hampshire, which has school choice programs that serve about 3% of its student population, is considering bills to expand those programs. The state leans red and its Republican governor has spoken in favor of the expansion. Granite State lawmakers adjourn at the end of June.

And Pennsylvania, a swing state with a Democrat governor who at one time vocally supported school choice, could see a push to expand Lifeline scholarships for students in low-performing schools before the state budget deadline in June, advocates said.

“We have been preparing for this since 2024,” said Rachel Langan of the Commonwealth Foundation. “We are ramping up our planning, our wording of the language, our op-eds. The closer we get to June, the more the pressure is going to mount.”

Likely to pass

Three other states might pass school choice measures this year, the biggest one being Texas, which is expected to vote on a $1 billion ESA proposal this week.

“I’m declaring school choice an Emergency Item that MUST be passed this session,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in February. “More than 30 states already have a form of school choice – and the majority of Texans support school choice.”

The fight in the Longhorn State has gone on for several years and attracted national attention, including from President Trump, who has made it his mission to abolish the federal Department of Education and return control of education to the states.

He also signed an executive order in January directing the federal government to support school choice and seek to empower parents.

Two other states to watch are North Dakota and South Carolina.

Complimentary ESA bills have passed in the Bison State’s House and Senate. Lawmakers have until early May to reconcile their differences and send a proposal to Gov. Kelly Armstrong, a Republican who has voiced support for school choice.

In the Palmetto State, lawmakers are scrambling to save the state’s school choice program after the state Supreme Court ended it in September, just weeks into the school year. Private donations have sustained the program this year.

The House and Senate have advanced competing proposals, with a major difference being how the program is funded, either directly from the state budget or through the state lottery. A compromise must be reached by early May to send a bill to Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, who signed the initial school choice measure into law.

Some red states struggle

But having a Republican governor or legislature doesn’t guarantee a school choice bill will pass.

South Dakota is solidly red, but three choice measures died in its legislature over cost concerns and heavy opposition from public school unions. Montana’s choice proposal met a similar fate.

Republicans hold supermajorities in the Kansas legislature but couldn’t advance proposals to create a broad ESA program or expand the state’s tax credit scholarship program. The proposals will likely be introduced in next year’s session.

Some of the challenge is among Republicans from rural areas, where few private schools exist and the public school is often the center of the community.

Still, school choice passed in sparsely populated Wyoming and largely rural Idaho this year, proving the tide is turning toward school choice. It just might take a few years in some cases, but proponents say it’s a fight worth waging, as states across the nation are proving.

There’s also momentum on the federal level, as Trump and Congress consider the Educational Choice for Children Act, which would create a national tax credit to support school choice, even in states that don’t have school choice programs. The legislation was referred to the Senate Finance Committee in January but has had no further action.

State lawmakers know national sentiment matters.

“School choice, whether anybody in this circle or this Capitol likes it, is coming,” said Mississippi Rep. Jason White after a proposal there failed to advance because of divisions in the Republican caucus.

“You have a president who was elected with a national mandate who has made it one of his top priorities. You have a ruby red state in Mississippi who voted overwhelmingly for President Trump.”

School Choice Legislation Scorecard 2025 

Passed (3) 

• Idaho

• Tennessee

• Wyoming

Pending, likely to pass (3) 

• Texas

• North Dakota

• South Carolina

Still Pending (3) 

• Nebraska

• New Hampshire

• Pennsylvania

Pending, unlikely to pass (10) 

• Connecticut

• Illinois

• Maine

• Minnesota

• Nevada

• New Jersey

• Oregon

• Rhode Island

• Vermont

• Washington

Died in legislature (8) 

• California

• Hawaii

• Kansas

• Mississippi

• Montana

• New Mexico

• South Dakota

• Virginia

No bills introduced (8) 

• Alaska

• Colorado

• Delaware

• Kentucky

• Maryland

• Massachusetts

• Michigan

• New York

Has broad school choice (15) 

• Alabama

• Arizona

• Arkansas

• Florida

• Georgia

• Indiana

• Iowa

• Louisiana

• Missouri

• North Carolina

• Ohio

• Oklahoma

• Utah

• W. Virginia

• Wisconsin