Do South Dakota families have true educational freedom?

Two recent reports put that question to the test. EdChoice’s Friedman Index ranked states on the affordability and availability of education options, while the Heritage Foundation’s Education Freedom Report Card overviewed several areas of academic freedom, including transparency and school choice. Here’s what the rankings revealed about education in our state.

 EdChoice’s 2025 Friedman Index

EdChoice’s 2025 Friedman Index is a comprehensive measure of the availability of private K–12 educational choice options. The index “assesses how well each state enables families to direct education funding toward the options they deem best, whether public or private.”

The Friedman Index ranked South Dakota 30th – 3rd from last –  in school choice freedom based on these three categories:

• Percent of Students Eligible for Choice Programs: 2%

• Average Amount of Choice Scholarship vs Public School Spending Per Student: 18%

• Educational Savings Account for Choice Students Available? No

Here’s what this data means: only two percent of South Dakota students are eligible for school choice programs, and those who are eligible have a scholarship that is 82% smaller than the amount the state spends on each public school student. This is not true educational freedom – which is why South Dakota ranked near last out of all 30 states with some measure of school choice.

Heritage Foundation’s Education Freedom Report Card

The Heritage Foundation’s Education Freedom Report Card painted a slightly better picture for our state. South Dakota garnered an overall rank of 19 out of all 50 states based on the following categories and observations:

• Education Choice – #24
  • “South Dakota does fairly well in empowering families to choose among district schools, but could do more to expand education choice. South Dakota generally respects the autonomy of homeschooling families. South Dakota could improve its ranking by enacting a K–12 education savings account (ESA) policy, expanding eligibility for and boosting participation in its existing private education choice policy, and enacting a charter school policy.”

• Academic Transparency – #7
  • “Governor Kristi Noem (R) signed an executive order in April 2022 that states: ‘The Department of Education shall not direct or compel department employees, students, teachers, or school district employees to personally affirm, adopt, or adhere to inherently divisive concepts.’”

• Teacher Freedom – #26 (tie)
  • “No teachers entered the classroom through alternative teacher certification routes in the Mount Rushmore State, and South Dakota does not have reciprocity of teacher licensure with other states. Educators in South Dakota are required to pass the Praxis test, a teacher certification exam administered by the Educational Testing Service. There is little evidence that this assessment predicts teacher quality or effectiveness. Only the Sioux Falls School District enrolls more than 15,000 students, and it does not employ a “chief diversity officer.” South Dakota continues to use Common Core–aligned tests. The state can improve its teacher freedom score by allowing aspiring teachers to enter the classroom through alternative teacher certification routes, allowing reciprocity of teacher licensure with other states or eliminating teacher certification requirements altogether, and by eliminating the Praxis test mandate. The state should also end its involvement with Common Core.”

• Return on Investment – #6
  • “South Dakota ranks sixth in return on investment (ROI) in education spending. South Dakota spends the 37th-most per pupil among states, spending $14,699 in cost-of-living-adjusted terms annually. South Dakota ranks 11th and is tied with Montana in its combined fourth-grade and eighth-grade math and reading average NAEP score. The Mount Rushmore State employs 2.98 teachers for every non-teacher in its public schools. South Dakota’s unfunded teacher pension liability represents zero percent of its state GDP. South Dakota can improve its ROI ranking by continuing to improve academic outcomes on the NAEP and stopping growth in non-teaching staff.”

• Civic Education – #33
  • “According to an estimate by a researcher at the University of Florida, students in South Dakota scored in the top quartile on the 2018 NAEP Civics Assessment. South Dakota requires high school students to complete a half-year course in civics. Students in South Dakota are not required to pass a civics or citizenship test to graduate from high school. South Dakota has a below-average number of classical education schools per capita. The Classical Learning Test is not yet used for admissions purposes at state universities.”

These reports show that South Dakota is on the right track – but there is still more work to be done. We have opened up theoretical options for families, but most will remain stuck in their current school district if changes aren’t implemented to improve scholarship availability or tax reductions. School choice shouldn’t just be for the wealthy; it should be for everyone.

As we have noted in previous legislative sessions, Education Savings Accounts are the most straightforward route to achieving educational freedom. ESAs are accounts the state deposits money into for families to spend on a variety of educational expenses, such as tuition, tutoring, textbooks, uniforms, and more, depending on the specifics of the program. Educational options for families is an issue we will continue to pursue in 2026.

School choice is about putting parents back in charge of their children’s education. We won’t stop until all South Dakota families have true educational freedom.