The Department of Education disregarded concerns that Arkansas’ homeschoolers repeatedly expressed about new Educational Freedom Account (EFA) rules, according to documents Family Council obtained via the Freedom of Information Act.
Lawmakers 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.
Family Council recently sent a Freedom of Information Act request asking for copies of public comments Arkansans submitted regarding the new EFA rules. In response, our office received more than 700 pages of documents containing comments homeschoolers have made since November regarding the rules.
The overwhelming majority of these comments express concerns about how the new rules would go beyond state law and hurt homeschoolers participating in the EFA program.
One family shared about how the rule change would hamper their daughter’s ability to participate in gymnastics, writing:
To share a personal example, my daughter has been involved in gymnastics since she was 2 years old and is now 6. This past year, she was able to move up based on her skill level and participate in league competitions at her gym. Since then, I have watched her confidence grow tremendously. She has become more disciplined, motivated, and proud of what she can accomplish. She currently trains three days a week and truly loves the sport.
Gymnastics, by nature, requires evaluation and placement for both safety and proper development. Advancing levels or making a team is not about exclusion—it ensures children are placed where they can safely learn and succeed. She is now working toward making the competitive team, which would allow her to compete across Arkansas. Opportunities like this would not be financially possible for our family without EFA support.
What is most concerning is the inconsistency this creates when compared to public school opportunities. Public schools use taxpayer funds to support extracurricular athletics such as basketball, volleyball, and cheerleading—many of which require tryouts and limit participation based on ability. Students who make those teams are supported using public funds. Under the proposed changes, however, families who have chosen alternative education paths would be denied access to similar opportunities simply because those programs involve evaluation or selection.
This creates an inequitable situation and contradicts the purpose of the EFA program, which is to expand educational freedom and allow families to make the best choices for their children.
In response, the Department of Education wrote: “The division 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.”
The department wrote the same thing to at least 30 other homeschool families who expressed similar concerns.
In other words, the Department of Education does not believe that the EFA rules have to treat homeschoolers fairly.
Arkansas law lets homeschooled students like this one spend no more than one-fourth of their EFA money on extracurriculars like gymnastics. The new rules go beyond state law by prohibiting this type of spending altogether. Meanwhile, private schools who participate in the EFA program and public schools who receive state funds are free to spend money on these types of programs.
We are urging homeschoolers across the state to ask their lawmakers to make sure the new EFA rules are fair to homeschool families.
If you need help finding contact information for your state senator and state representative, please contact our office, and we will be happy to help you.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
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