If you choose to serve in the U.S. military, you should also be able to choose the best education for your children. Today, nearly 22 million children, or 40 percent of all K-12 students in the U.S., have access to some form of school choice. Why shouldn’t military families enjoy the same freedom regardless of where they’re stationed?

Military families say that their children's education is one of the most serious issues they face while serving our country. As part of the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), 214 House members recently approved a proposal to help them. Unfortunately, the amendment fell just three votes short of passage.

Representatives were voting on Amendment 257 to the NDAA, which would establish a pilot program to provide financial assistance for servicemembers seeking a wider range of educational options for their children. The Amendment, proposed by Rep. Addison McDowell, R-N.C., would have provided military families with funding if they chose to utilize private schools, charter schools, homeschooling, or other educational options. President Donald Trump signed an executive order last year endorsing such a policy.

While the pilot program stopped short of establishing a true Education Savings Account (ESA), which would have allowed unused funds to be rolled over for future expenses such as workforce training or college tuition, it nevertheless represented a historic opportunity to expand educational freedom for military families.

When military families are polled about education savings accounts for their children, 74% of them support their implementation. They are also broadly supportive of charter schools and open-enrollment policies, which both allow more options for parents choosing where their children will be educated. A majority of military parents also indicated that their children are being tutored—a cost which military ESAs could help cover.

As the military seeks to gain and retain valuable service members, the family conditions they experience are of considerable importance. Relocations, deployments, and reassignment are all difficult for military families and often disrupt their children's academic progress and social connections. Military ESAs would offer resources to help mitigate these disruptions for military families.

Education for the children of military families is no small issue. Some 67,000 students are in military schools operated by the Department of Defense, while over half a million others attend local public schools. However, a 2025 survey of military families by the organization EdChoice found that only 32% of military-connected respondents prefer to send their child to a public school—far less than the 80% of military-connected children who attend public schools. These families clearly want more options when it comes to their children’s education.

Those who voted against the amendment, including two Republican representatives who attended private Catholic high schools themselves, should reconsider the benefits of extending educational freedom to military families during future consideration of the NDAA or other legislative vehicles, such as reconciliation. Education remains a top priority among service members, and research has linked school-choice programs to greater school accountability, higher graduation rates, more efficient use of education funding, and stronger civic outcomes.

Left-of-center lawmakers should also consider reevaluating their position on education choice programs for military-connected children. The issue is especially relevant for Members who are veterans themselves or represent large military communities that back education freedom.

Supporting our service members and their families should be bipartisan—non-partisan even. Members on both sides of the aisle should establish education choices for those who willingly serve our country, oftentimes sacrificing their lives in the process.

Military families deserve access to the same educational opportunities already available to millions of other American families. It’s time for Congress to grant them this opportunity.

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Madison Doan is a Policy Analyst in The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy. Zac Briley was a member of Heritage’s Young Leaders Program.

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