Statement from ALEC on Texas’s Forward-Looking Reforms in Education Freedom

ALEC Education & Workforce Development Task Force Director Andrew Handel shared the following comments on the latest efforts in Texas to improve its virtual schooling law and education policies.

Congratulations to Senator Bettencourt and his efforts passing SB 569, which was signed into Texas law last year. This bill makes dramatic and significant improvements to Texas’ virtual schooling law and helps move Texas up our rankings by 15 spots to #9 overall. Under the previous framework that utilized the Texas Virtual School Network, expansion of the virtual school environment was severely hampered across the state.

Fortunately, SB 569 does away with this outdated framework and will allow for the growth and success of virtual schools across the state for years to come. While the state receives a “C” grade for virtual schools in the 2026 Index of State Education Freedom, SB 569 makes crucial reforms that, once fully implemented, should help move Texas to an “A” – a designation that only three other states were able to earn in this year’s report.”

It is important to note that ALEC’s 2026 Index of State Education Freedom implements a new set of metrics to assess each state’s virtual schooling environment, which we believe results in a more accurate and reflective snapshot of each state’s policies. Due to this change, an apples-to-apples comparison of this year’s rankings to last year’s is not possible in the virtual schooling category.

Our goal is for the Index of State Education Freedom to be a forward-looking publication that recognizes the best education policies across the states, which is why Texas is now ranked #9 in the nation for education freedom. We believe that the important reforms in SB 569, once fully implemented, will result in Texas moving even further up the rankings.