Department of Education Data Shows Homeschoolers Excelling Under EFA Program
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, May 13, 2026
Little Rock, Ark. – Homeschoolers participating in the Educational Freedom Account (EFA) program under the LEARNS Act outperformed students in private schools on state-mandated tests. According to data that Family Council obtained from the Arkansas Department of Education under the Freedom of Information Act homeschoolers, on average, scored in the sixty-third percentile in math and in the sixty-eighth percentile in reading. Meanwhile, private school students enrolled in the same EFA program scored at the fifty-fifth percentile in math and at the fifty-seventh percentile in reading, on average.
In 2023 the Arkansas Legislature created the EFA program to provide funding for students to cover education expenses at a private school or pay for approved homeschool education expenses. Students who receive EFA funds must take a nationally recognized norm-referenced test each year. Supporters of homeschooling say the testing data shows homeschoolers continue to outperform their peers in public and private schools.
In a statement, Family Council President Jerry Cox said, “The test scores speak for themselves. The State of Arkansas is getting more bang for the education dollars invested in homeschooling than anywhere else. When you break down the testing data we received, you find that Arkansas’ homeschoolers don’t just do better, on average. Many of Arkansas’ homeschoolers in the EFA program are outperforming 80% or 90% of their peers. These test scores prove what the Department of Education learned through 30 years of annual homeschool testing from 1985 to 2015: Arkansas homeschoolers score above average in every subject at every grade level every year. These high test scores and the success of homeschooling are evidence that when the government gets out of the way and lets parents educate their children, good things happen.”
Cox said that he hopes this strong showing by homeschoolers will prompt lawmakers and the Department of Education to maintain EFA funding for homeschoolers. “There have always been a few lawmakers and a few people at the Arkansas Department of Education who oppose homeschooling. This opposition has been evident with the introduction of two laws to restrict EFA funds for homeschoolers and with proposed Department of Education rules to place new restrictions on homeschoolers in the EFA program. A lot of homeschoolers are concerned those rules go beyond state law and will make it harder for homeschoolers to educate their children. Lawmakers could vote on those rules soon. The EFA program clearly is working well for homeschool families, and we hope our elected officials will keep it that way.”
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We are urging Arkansans to ask their lawmakers to make sure the new EFA rules are fair to homeschool families. If you need help contacting your state legislators, please call or email our office, and we will assist you.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
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.