Arkansas is a little over 1,000 days out from the passage of controversial education law. A new state issued report details implementation data for year two.
Arkansas LEARNs was a sweeping overhaul of the state's school system. The bulk of the 145-page law created the so-called “Education Freedom Account” program. This gives families taxpayer dollars to pay for private schools or home-school education.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders championed EFAs as part of her belief in “parental empowerment.” She thinks the money can help “shop” for a child's education. Parents can take the money and pick a school for their child's needs. Opponents say the plan drains money from Arkansas' struggling public school system and goes to kids who can already afford private school tuition.
Data from the program's second year show it’s gone the way both detractors and supporters expected. In the 2024 school year, 14,256 kids received EFA money, a large jump from the 5,548 kids enrolled in 2023. In 2023, there were more application limitations. Each voucher is for a little under $7,000.
EFA money can also be used for private educational tools. Over $7 million of EFA funds in 2024-2025 went to supplies or services like tutoring or homeschool curricula. Almost $904,650 went to tutoring. $1,269,768 went to “enrichment,” or extracurricular activities.

Best Buy got the most money from EFA participants at $1,385,177. Second place was Amazon at $738,213. Meanwhile, religious home schooling companies like Abeka and The Good and The Beautiful get thousands in tax payer dollars.

126 Arkansas private schools are in the EFA program. 2024 was a unique year in the program. It was the first year homeschool kids got EFA cash. In 2024-2025, 3,422 or 25% of enrollees were not enrolled in a brick and mortar school.
The report boasts of high customer satisfaction and high retention. 91% of applicants stayed enrolled while 84% of families said they were happy with their EFA experience.
The enrolled students have higher standardized test scores compared to national averages.
“EFA students scored at the 57th percentile in math and 59th percentile in English Language Arts, above the national median.”
Though this isn't standardized. EFA kids can choose which test to take amid a list of options. Public school kids can't.
The report puts the state's price tag for the 2024 school year at $93.8 million dollars. In 2023, the number was $37.3 million. It adds this caveat:
“Only 2.6% of its K-12 education budget to serve 3% of the state’s students through the EFA program.”
Program costs could eventually reach $277 million, per the report. This would be 7.4% of the state's $3.7 billion education budget.
Vouchers get criticism for going to kids who don't “need” the money. The state doesn't factor income into their enrollment decisions. In year one, the focus was on circumstances. Kids with a disability, homeless kids, or students with parents in the military went first.
The report says a little over a tenth of the enrollees switched from public to private schools. Most were already private or home-school students before joining the EFA program. One-third of the 2024 enrollees “did not have a previous school listed on their application.”