# EdChoice The school-choice movement's research, messaging, and technical-assistance shop — formerly known as the **Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice**, founded in 1996 by [[Milton Friedman]] and Rose Friedman to advance the school-voucher concept Milton had introduced in his 1955 essay "The Role of Government in Education." The organization rebranded as EdChoice in 2016 to broaden its identity beyond vouchers to encompass Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), tax-credit scholarships, and other choice mechanisms. ## Function in the Movement EdChoice occupies the research-and-messaging layer of the school-choice coalition. While the [[Institute for Justice]] litigates, [[American Federation for Children]] lobbies and campaigns, and [[Americans for Prosperity]] runs field operations, EdChoice provides the intellectual infrastructure: the data, the talking points, the program designs, and the technical assistance that state legislators need to draft and defend choice legislation. Key publications include the annual *ABCs of School Choice* reference guide (the movement's standard state-by-state program inventory), the *EdChoice Yearbook*, polling data on public attitudes toward school choice, and fiscal-impact analyses that legislators cite during floor debates. EdChoice staff frequently testify before state legislatures and provide technical drafting assistance for ESA and voucher bills. ## Funders EdChoice's funder base reads as a who's-who of the school-choice donor ecosystem: the [[Bradley Foundation]] (its most consequential institutional funder and the broker of the IJ partnership), the Walton Family Foundation, the DeVos family foundations, the [[Koch Network]] (via DonorsTrust and [[Stand Together]]), and the Searle Freedom Trust. The organization's annual budget has grown alongside the movement's legislative success, reflecting increased donor confidence in universal choice as an achievable goal. ## The IJ Partnership In late 2023, EdChoice formed the **Partnership for Educational Choice** with the [[Institute for Justice]], brokered by the [[Bradley Foundation]]. The venture integrates IJ's litigation capacity with EdChoice's policy research — a vertically integrated operation that can design programs, support legislative campaigns, and defend the resulting laws in court. IJ is transitioning its school choice litigation docket to the partnership while retaining its other practice areas independently. ## The Universal ESA Wave (2023–2026) EdChoice has been at the center of the most significant legislative wave in the movement's history. Between 2023 and 2025, multiple states enacted universal or near-universal ESA programs — extending publicly funded school choice beyond low-income or special-needs populations to all families. Arizona's universal ESA (2022, the first) became the model, and EdChoice's technical assistance and research outputs were instrumental in the design and defense of subsequent programs. By 2025, ESA or voucher programs of some form existed in over 30 states, up from approximately 15 in 2020. ## KB Significance EdChoice represents the **intellectual lineage** of the school-choice movement — the direct institutional heir of Friedman's original voucher proposal. Its evolution from the Friedman Foundation to EdChoice tracks the movement's own evolution from ideological advocacy (vouchers as market principle) to pragmatic policy engineering (ESAs as flexible, parent-controlled accounts). The 2023 IJ partnership marks the point where the movement's research and litigation arms formally merged, creating the kind of vertically integrated advocacy infrastructure that the [[Federalist Society]] built for judicial nominations. ## See Also - [[School Choice Ecosystem]] — The movement EdChoice serves - [[Milton Friedman]] — Founder; the intellectual origin of school vouchers - [[Institute for Justice]] — Litigation partner since 2023 - [[Bradley Foundation]] — Primary funder and partnership broker - [[American Federation for Children]] — Lobbying and campaign arm of the coalition - [[School Choice]] — The concept