Family Council Asks State Board of Education to Rethink EFA Restrictions on Team Sports

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On Monday, Family Council and its homeschool division, the Education Alliance, submitted public comments asking the Arkansas Department of Education to rethink a set of proposed rules prohibiting Educational Freedom Account (EFA) money from being used for team sports under the LEARNS Act.

The proposed rules say that registration fees, equipment, dues, and any costs associated with club and team sports cannot be paid for with EFA funding.

Homeschooling has surged in Arkansas and across the nation. Educational Freedom Account funding makes it possible for Arkansas students to use public dollars to pay for educational services at public or private schools or at home. State spending on EFAs has topped $120.5 million so far this year, and thousands of students have taken advantage of school choice in Arkansas as a result.

Many homeschoolers have expressed concerns that completely prohibiting EFA spending on team sports is unfair, because public schools fund team sports with state money. There is also concern that the new rules go beyond boundaries set in the LEARNS Act.

Earlier this year, lawmakers passed Act 920 of 2025 which limits EFA spending on sports and other extracurricular activities to 25% of a student’s annual EFA funding. That means a student who participates in the LEARNS Act cannot spend more than one-fourth of his or her EFA money on extracurricular activities. However, the new education rules would go beyond state law by prohibiting EFA money from being spent on team sports altogether.

Public comments on the proposed EFA rules are due by Tuesday, December 16. Home schoolers can email their comments to ADE.RulesComments@ade.arkansas.gov.

You can read Family Council’s comments on the proposed rules here.

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

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Group Forms to Oppose Abortion, Marijuana, Education Amendments

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On Friday the group Stronger Arkansas filed ballot question committee paperwork announcing it would work to disqualify and/or defeat the Arkansas Abortion Amendment, the marijuana amendment, and the Arkansas Educational Rights Amendment of 2024.

Arkansans for Limited Government is collecting petition signatures to place the Arkansas Abortion Amendment on the November ballot.

The amendment would write abortion into the state constitution, and it would prevent the Arkansas Legislature from restricting abortion during the first five months of pregnancy — allowing thousands of elective abortions every year and paving the way for taxpayer-funded abortions in Arkansas.

Another group is circulating petitions to place a marijuana amendment on the ballot this November.

The amendment would change Arkansas’ medical marijuana law to enable recreational marijuana statewide. No longer would marijuana users need to suffer from a specific medical condition.

The amendment would drastically expand Arkansas’ laws to make it possible for people to grow and use marijuana at home. This would make it easier for people to use marijuana recreationally.

The amendment also would openly legalize marijuana in Arkansas if federal laws against marijuana are repealed.

The Arkansas Educational Rights Amendment of 2024 would change Arkansas’ constitution concerning education.

Among other things, the amendment would require private schools that receive public funding to be accredited like a public school. This could have significant ramifications for private schools that receive public funding under the state’s 2023 LEARNS Act.

A growing list of organizations in Arkansas oppose the abortion amendment.

Arkansas Right to Life and Family Council Action Committee both have launched campaigns to disqualify and defeat the abortion measure.

Choose Life Arkansas — which is made up of pro-life leaders from across the state — has also formed a campaign to defeat the amendment.

NWA Coalition for Life has filed a Statement of Organization last month announcing it is working against the abortion amendment. The group includes pro-life leaders from the Northwest Arkansas area.

On March 1 the Arkansas Committee For Ethics Policy filed paperwork with the State indicating it opposes the abortion amendment.

On March 6 the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock also filed a Statement of Organization announcing it opposes the amendment.

The groups circulating petitions for the abortion amendment, marijuana amendment, and education amendment have until July 5 to collect the nearly 91,000 petition signatures necessary to place their measures on the ballot.

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

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