Here’s How the State Board of Education Could Fix Its EFA Rules

We have written repeatedly about how lawmakers could vote very soon a flawed set of rules governing the Educational Freedom Account (EFA) program.

Arkansas created the EFA program in 2023, making it possible for Arkansas’ students to use public funds to pay for an education at a public or private school or at home. Thousands of students have taken advantage of school choice in Arkansas under this program, and many homeschool families have benefited from it.

But late last year, the Arkansas Department of Education began developing new administrative rules for the EFA program restricting how EFA funds could be used — especially when it came to athletic activities.

Homeschool families and organizations began voicing concerns about how the rules would prohibit EFA spending on many team sports while still letting private schools and public schools spend public tax dollars and EFA funds on school athletics.

Family Council and the Education Alliance offered changes to the rules, but the latest version of the rules still prohibits EFA funds from being used for team sports that require tryouts or limit participation based on ability.

The rules still establish new categories and restrictions on educational expenses, and they still reduce the maximum balance families can carry in their EFA accounts.

The Department of Education could fix the rules by doing two things:

1. Make Sure the Rules Track with State Law
Arkansas law already contains clear restrictions on EFA funds and how families use them to pay for educational expenses.

Arkansas law also makes it clear that no more than one-fourth of a student’s EFA funds can go toward extracurricular activities.

The law does not let the Department of Education write additional restrictions – like prohibiting EFA funds from paying for athletic activities that require tryouts.

The Department of Education should revise the rules to make sure they don’t go beyond existing state law.

2. Make the Rules Fair and Equitable for Every EFA Student
Arkansans submitted hundreds of public comments to the State Board of Education regarding the proposed rules, and many of them expressed concerns about how the new rules would go beyond state law and hurt homeschoolers participating in the EFA program. In response, the Department of Education wrote that it “respectfully rejects the premise that the goal of the EFA program in the homeschool context is or should be to provide equity between public or private schools and homeschooling.” In other words, the Department of Education does not believe its rules have to be fair to homeschoolers participating in the EFA program.

The EFA program is voluntary, and whether a family participates in it or not is up to them. But if a family chooses to homeschool under the EFA program, the rules ought to be fair for everyone. 

The Department of Education should revise the rules to make sure they are fair and equitable for everyone.

We are urging homeschoolers across the state to ask their lawmakers to make sure the new EFA rules are fair to homeschool families.