A candidate for Arkansas Senate recently published a video on Facebook supporting new testing restrictions on homeschoolers and private school students who receive Educational Freedom Account (EFA) funding.
Most Arkansans may be aware that the State created the EFA program in 2023, making it possible for students to use public funds to pay for an education at a public or private school or at home.
What some people do not seem to understand is that every student receiving EFA money must take a nationally recognized norm-referenced test, and Department of Education data shows Arkansas’ EFA students are outperforming their peers nationwide.
Over the past year, different public figures have called for more regulation of the EFA program.
For example, during committee testimony in April, some Arkansas lawmakers argued EFA students should take the same assessments as public school students.
Last week, Arkansas State Senate candidate Missy Wardlaw posted a Facebook video arguing the same thing, saying:
“If taxpayer dollars are paying for a child’s education, whether it be public, private, or homeschool through EFAs, every student should take the same assessment. That’s the only way to honestly measure academic growth, compare results fairly, and ensure taxpayers know their investment is producing results. If public money is being spent, then public accountability should come with it.”
Arkansans need to understand two important points about how the EFA program works and why EFA students do not take the same assessments as public school students:
First, imposing a one-size-fits-all assessment on students does not strengthen accountability for the EFA program.
The EFA program already contains tremendous transparency and accountability requirements.
Under state law and state rules, every student’s EFA spending is subject to strict approval processes at the Arkansas Department of Education.
Financial data shows 90% of EFA spending goes directly to school tuition and other core educational expenses. The other 10% goes to enrichment activities like PE, athletics, music, and art, or other co-curricular programs. The Arkansas Legislature has actually limited vendor fees and capped EFA spending on these types of programs.
In June, the State moved forward with a new set of administrative rules establishing even more complicated preapproval and reimbursement requirements for homeschoolers participating in the EFA program.
EFA students already have plenty of regulation and accountability. Forcing homeschoolers and private school students to take the same assessments as public school students would not increase that accountability or make the program better.
Second, requiring EFA students to take the same assessments as public school students could ultimately drive EFA students to use the same curriculum as public schools.
The EFA program is designed to help families give their children the education that is right for them.
Many families may feel trapped by failing public school systems or by one-size-fits-all approaches to education. For those families, the EFA program offers options that help them and their children thrive.
The public school assessments are designed to measure students’ mastery of the material taught in public schools. Forcing EFA students to use those assessments could drive them to use the public school curriculum as well.
That goes against the entire point of the EFA program.
Students in the Educational Freedom Account program are doing well, because the program gives them the freedom to pursue the education that is right for them. Arkansans need to understand what has made the EFA program successful, and lawmakers should oppose any effort to impose a one-size-fits-all approach to education on EFA students.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
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