Home School Surge Continues in Arkansas

Home School

New data show home schooling has continued to surge across the United States — especially in Arkansas.

The Washington Post recently reported that among 32 states and Washington, D.C., the number of home school students has increased by 51% since the 2017-2018 school year.

The number of home schoolers rose in Arkansas from 20,331 in 2018 to 30,205 last year — nearly a 49% increase!

During the coronavirus pandemic, as many as one in ten families in Arkansas home schooled their children during.

Family Council has always believed families deserve options when it comes to education. That’s one reason we support home schooling.

Research shows parental involvement generally is tied to better educational outcomes for children. That’s true no matter how families choose to educate their children — but home schooling is particularly good for many families, because it lets them choose the education that’s best for them.

Home schooling is a great example of how giving families options can help their children flourish.

Family Council has supported home schooling for more than 25 years, because it empowers parents to give their son or their daughter the education that’s right for them. Home schooling in Arkansas has been incredibly successful as a result.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Bad Home School Testing Bill Filed

Home School, Legislation,

A bad home school testing bill has been filed at the Arkansas Legislature.

H.B. 1587 by Rep. Jim Wooten (R – Beebe) requires home schoolers to take a nationally recognized norm-referenced test every year in order to receive an form of public funds.

The way this bill is written, home schoolers in Arkansas would have to test if they receive any type of public assistance or any type of grant or scholarship paid for with state or federal funds.

The testing requirements in H.B. 1587 do not seem to be connected to the LEARNS Act that Gov. Sanders recently signed into law.

The LEARNS Act creates a voluntary school choice program in Arkansas, and it requires private school and home school students to take a norm-referenced test each year in order to participate in that voluntary school choice program.

Most home schoolers would not be eligible to apply to be part of the LEARNS Act’s school choice program until 2025.

H.B. 1587 would take effect this summer, and it would require home school families to take a state-mandated test in order to receive any type of public funds.

It seems highly unlikely that H.B. 1587 will pass at the Arkansas Legislature — especially with less than a month left in the 2023 session.

However, it is worth pointing out that the State of Arkansas used to require home schoolers to take a state-mandated test.

In 2009, Arkansas’ home schoolers performed better on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills than 61% – 80% of the students who took that test, nationwide.

According to the 2013-2014 Home School Report from the Arkansas Department of Education, in 2014 home schoolers in grades 3 – 9 scored anywhere from the 51st percentile to the 65th percentile on that same test.

In fact, home schoolers in Arkansas performed so well on standardized tests that the Arkansas Legislature finally ended state-mandated home school testing in 2015.

There is simply no reason to bring home school testing back.

You Can Read H.B. 1587 Here.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Arkansas Governor Signs Omnibus LEARNS Act Into Law

Home School, Legislation,
Above: Gov. Sanders signs the LEARNS Act into law during a bill signing ceremony at the Arkansas Capitol.

On Wednesday Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed S.B. 294, the LEARNS Act, into law.

The LEARNS Act is a good law that could provide students in Arkansas with unprecedented access to education.

As we have written before, the LEARNS Act will make it possible for students to receive a publicly-funded education at a public or private school or at home.

The LEARNS Act will empower families to make decisions about how they educate their children. That could give families real education choices that will help their children succeed.

The LEARNS Act also prohibits critical race theory in public schools, and it protects young elementary school children from inappropriate sexual material.

We are grateful to legislators for passing the LEARNS Act, and we applaud Gov. Sanders for signing it into law.

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