Here’s How the State Board of Education Could Fix Its EFA Rules
We have written repeatedly about how lawmakers could vote very soon a flawed set of rules governing the Educational Freedom Account (EFA) program.
Arkansas 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.
The Department of Education could fix the rules by doing two things:
1. Make Sure the Rules Track with State Law
Arkansas law already contains clear restrictions on EFA funds and how families use them to pay for educational expenses.
Arkansas law also makes it clear that no more than one-fourth of a student’s EFA funds can go toward extracurricular activities.
The law does not let the Department of Education write additional restrictions – like prohibiting EFA funds from paying for athletic activities that require tryouts.
The Department of Education should revise the rules to make sure they don’t go beyond existing state law.
2. Make the Rules Fair and Equitable for Every EFA Student
Arkansans submitted hundreds of public comments to the State Board of Education regarding the proposed rules, and many of them expressed concerns about how the new rules would go beyond state law and hurt homeschoolers participating in the EFA program. In response, the Department of Education wrote that it “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.” In other words, the Department of Education does not believe its rules have to be fair to homeschoolers participating in the EFA program.
The EFA program is voluntary, and whether a family participates in it or not is up to them. But if a family chooses to homeschool under the EFA program, the rules ought to be fair for everyone.
The Department of Education should revise the rules to make sure they are fair and equitable for everyone.
We are urging homeschoolers across the state to ask their lawmakers to make sure the new EFA rules are fair to homeschool families.
Federal Agency Sues States That are Trying to Stop Prediction Market Gambling
A federal agency is going to court to make sure online prediction markets can operate in states that don’t want them.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed lawsuits against New York and Wisconsin and filed legal briefs in Massachusetts, all to stop those states from applying their gambling laws to so-called “prediction markets.”
The CFTC has also previously sued Arizona, Connecticut, and Illinois for the same reason.
Prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi exploit loopholes in federal law to bring casino-style gambling to anyone with a smartphone. Whereas traditional gambling operates under state oversight and state law, prediction market platforms claim protection under federal commodities laws.
The out-of-state companies running these platforms claim it’s not gambling. They just offer “financial products” that let people “invest” in the outcome of ballgames, tomorrow’s weather, foreign policy, and so on.
But calling it an “investment” does not change the reality. It’s wagering on uncertain outcomes in hopes of making money.
Several states have tried to treat prediction markets exactly like what they are — gambling operations — and enforce their state gambling laws against them. The CFTC is now suing those states to stop them, arguing that Congress gave the CFTC exclusive authority to regulate these platforms as financial exchanges.
CFTC Chairman Michael Selig put it bluntly: “To any state that seeks to nullify federal law and seize authority over these markets, I say again: we will see you in court.”
In other words, a federal agency is using the courts to override the decisions of state governments that want to protect their citizens from predatory gambling.
We have written before about how prediction markets are particularly troubling because they operate without state oversight. When prediction market platforms let users trade hundreds of millions of dollars on the Super Bowl game outcomes — plus millions more on trivial bets like which song would play first at halftime — that is not investing. That is gambling.
And this kind of predatory gambling destroys families. Sports betting is out of control. It’s ruining lives and corrupting sports. Studies indicate people who gamble on sports may be twice as likely to suffer from gambling problems. The damage is worse when the sports betting happens online.
Now the federal government wants to make sure gambling companies can reach into every state in America — whether those states want it or not.
Arkansas already has a serious gambling problem. Arkansans wagered more than $86.5 million on sports betting in March alone. If the CFTC succeeds in its campaign to block states from regulating these platforms, Arkansas will have even less ability to protect its citizens from this new wave of online gambling.
As powerful corporations try to make gambling part of everyday life, it’s important for Arkansas to protect its citizens and families from predatory gambling. Otherwise gambling addiction will simply continue wrecking lives and hurting families in our state.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.