Proposed EFA Restrictions Do Not Appear on State Board of Education Agenda

The State Board of Education is scheduled to meet at 12:30 PM this Thursday, February 12, at the Arkansas Department of Education Building located at Four Capitol Mall in Little Rock. The meeting agenda is available here.

It appears the board does not plan to vote on proposed rules prohibiting homeschoolers from using Educational Freedom Account (EFA) funding to pay for team sports under the LEARNS Act.

Family Council has reached out to state officials about the status of the proposed rules. Sources tell us that the board may choose to “table” the rules for discussion later on. The situation is still very fluid, so we will let you know if we learn of any changes between now and the State Board of Education meeting on Thursday.

Here is a little more information about the situation:

In January the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that the Department of Education planned to move forward with rules prohibiting EFA spending on team sports under the LEARNS Act despite public comments from more than 200 citizens who oppose them. Family Council and its homeschool division, the Education Alliance, were among those who submitted public comments against the proposed rules.

At the time, there was talk that the State Board of Education could cast a final vote on the rules at its February meeting.

The Department of Education’s proposed EFA restrictions go beyond what state law allows.

The restrictions would completely prohibit any EFA spending on registration fees, equipment costs, dues, and any costs associated with club or team sports.

Arkansas law clearly caps spending in these areas at 25% of a student’s total EFA funding, which means no more than one-fourth of a student’s EFA money can go toward team sports and extracurricular activities. The Department of Education wants to prohibit spending on team and club sports altogether.

Many homeschoolers have also pointed out that completely prohibiting EFA spending on team sports is unfair because public schools fund team sports with state money.

At this time it looks like the State Board of Education will not vote on the EFA restrictions at its February meeting this Thursday. Our office plans to monitor the situation. If the board decides to vote on the rules, we will let Arkansas’ home schoolers know.