Arkansas’ Educational Freedom Account Rules: What Happened and What Comes Next

Home School,

Over the past several months, Arkansas homeschool families have raised serious concerns about new rules affecting homeschoolers participating in the state’s Educational Freedom Account (EFA) program.

Here is a brief recap of how we got to where we are today and where things may go from here.

2023 – 2025: From Law to Rulemaking

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.

Last year, the Arkansas Legislature passed S.B. 625 reducing EFA vendor fees and placing some spending restrictions on extracurricular activities, PE courses, fine arts, music, STEM, and field trips.

These are areas where homeschoolers have experienced significant price increases since the start of the EFA program. Cutting vendor fees and capping certain costs encourages educational providers to keep their prices down.

We were able to work with our friends at the Arkansas Department of Education and the governor’s office to amend S.B. 625 to be sure it restricts fees without placing any undue burdens on homeschoolers.

However, later in 2025, the Arkansas Department of Education began developing new administrative rules for the EFA program. Early proposals included significant restrictions on how EFA funds could be used — especially when it came to team sports.

December of 2025: Concerns Arise Over Team Sports Restrictions in New Rules

By December, homeschool families and organizations began voicing concerns about proposals that would prohibit EFA spending on many team sports.

Family Council and the Education Alliance urged state officials to reconsider these restrictions.

Despite these concerns, state officials signaled in January that they did not intend to change course.

2026: Proposal Moves Forward

In the weeks that followed, the Department of Education amended its proposed restrictions, but concerns remained. By March, it was clear the rules could prevent homeschool students from using EFA funds for extracurriculars that limit participation based on tryouts or ability — even though public schools continue to fund team sports with state dollars.

Family Council and the Education Alliance continued to communicate with homeschoolers and policymakers, emphasizing that the proposed rules would limit educational choice and disproportionately affect homeschool families.

April 9: State Board of Education Approves New Rules

On April 9, the State Board of Education approved a new set of EFA rules.

Among other things, these revised rules:

  • Prohibit using EFA funds for team sports that require tryouts or limit participation based on ability
  • Establish new categories and restrictions on allowable educational expenses
  • Reduce the maximum balance families can carry in their EFA accounts.

These changes mark a significant shift in how homeschool families may use EFA funds, and they go beyond the reasonable restrictions the Arkansas Legislature approved last year.

What Happens Next

The rules have now been sent to the Arkansas Legislature for review, where a subcommittee of either the Joint Budget Committee or the Arkansas Legislative Council will review them and make a final recommendation on whether to approve or reject the rules.

That means there is still an opportunity for legislators to address concerns raised by homeschool families.

We are urging homeschoolers across the state to call the Arkansas House of Representatives and Arkansas Senate, and ask their lawmakers to listen to Arkansas’ homeschool families.

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

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

You can read our public comments on the proposed rules here.

You can read our entire policy brief about the new rules here.

Family Council and the Education Alliance continue to monitor this process as it moves forward.

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

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DOJ Report Confirms Biden Administration Weaponized Federal Law Against Pro-Lifers

Abortion, , , ,
Above: Arsonists firebombed the Wisconsin Family Action office in Madison on Mother’s Day 2022. The pro-abortion domestic terror group Jane’s Revenge later took credit for the attack. Last week’s DOJ report shows attacks like these were ignored or downplayed while the federal government weaponized its resources against pro-lifers.

The U.S. Department of Justice released a report last week confirming what many pro-life Americans have suspected for years: the Biden Administration used the power of the federal government to target and punish people for their pro-life beliefs.

The report produced by the DOJ’s Weaponization Working Group reviewed more than 700,000 internal records. What it found is deeply troubling.

The Biden DOJ worked hand-in-hand with pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Federation to track pro-life activists, build dossiers on them, and push for their prosecution. Prosecutors withheld evidence from defendants, tried to screen religious people off juries, and pushed for sentences averaging more than two years in prison for pro-life defendants — more than twice the average sentence sought for violent pro-abortion offenders.

Meanwhile, attacks against pregnancy resource centers were ignored or downplayed.

President Trump issued pardons to many of the pro-lifers targeted by the Biden DOJ, and the current DOJ has dismissed several of those cases. That is the right call.

Arkansas families and churches should know that standing up for innocent human life is never wrong. We are grateful the record is finally being set straight.

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

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Louisville Pays $800K After Trying to Silence Christian Photographer

Religious Freedom, ,

Last month a Kentucky city learned a costly lesson about the First Amendment.

Our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom report Louisville has agreed to pay $800,000 in attorneys’ fees after a federal court ruled the city violated the constitutional rights of Christian photographer Chelsey Nelson. Louisville’s “Fairness Ordinance” tried to force Nelson to photograph same-sex weddings and prohibited her from explaining her religious beliefs about marriage on her own studio’s website. The court said no — and now the city is paying for it.

We have written before about Christian photographers, bakers, florists, and wedding chapel owners being dragged into court because they declined to take part in same-sex weddings or ceremonies. Time and again, courts have had to remind government officials that the First Amendment means what it says.

Nelson’s victory builds on the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 2023 ruling in 303 Creative v. Elenis, which held that the government cannot force artists to create speech they disagree with. The government cannot compel Americans to say things they don’t believe — and it certainly cannot punish them for saying what they do believe.

People should be free to live and operate according to their deeply held religious convictions.

Arkansas has enacted some of the best protections for religious freedom in the country. But cases like Chelsey Nelson’s are a reminder that those protections must be defended — in court if necessary. We are grateful for organizations like Alliance Defending Freedom that are willing to fight for them.

Louisville’s $800,000 bill proves that violating the Constitution is an expensive mistake.

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

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