S.R. 16 Fails in Arkansas Senate

On Tuesday, the second of two bad homeschool Educational Freedom Account measures at the Arkansas Capitol failed.

Lawmakers created the Educational Freedom Account (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.

But this year, lawmakers filed H.R. 1008 and S.R. 16 reducing EFA funding for homeschoolers and imposing new restrictions under the EFA program.

These proposed laws are homeschool control measures dressed up as accountability measures. They turn educational freedom into a state compliance program.

On Tuesday, S.R. 16 failed in the Arkansas Senate. H.R. 1008 previously failed in committee.

This is good news, but lawmakers are still expected to review new rules from the Department of Education governing EFA accounts at some point in the near future.

The rules would prohibit Educational Freedom Account spending on team sports that require tryouts or that limit participation based on ability. That means that a homeschool student who wants to play basketball for a local school could not pay for athletic expenses with EFA money even though public schools pay for team sports with state money.

Arkansas law clearly caps extracurricular spending 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 new rules go farther by prohibiting all spending on team sports that require tryouts.

Family Council and the Education Alliance are still urging homeschoolers to contact their lawmakers and ask them to oppose the new EFA rules from the Arkansas Department of Education.

You can call 501-682-2902 to leave a message asking your state senator to oppose these rules.

You can call 501-682-6211 to leave a message asking your state representative to oppose these rules.