In 2023, Arkansas’ education reform bill, known as the LEARNS Act, went into effect. The LEARNS Act created the state’s Education Freedom Accounts program, which provides eligible families with around $7,000 per student to help them choose the education that works for them. Families who choose to participate can use the funds to help pay for a traditional private school, other options like a microschool, or homeschooling.

When the program launched, eligible students included students with a disability, students experiencing homelessness, current or former foster care children, the children of military members, the children of first responders, and more. By the 2025-26 school year, all children in the state became eligible.

Qualifying educational expenses include tuition and fees, curriculum, supplemental materials, school uniforms, technology, tutoring, and therapy.

Since its enactment, the Education Freedom Accounts program has helped tens of thousands of families choose the educational environment that works best for their children. For the 2026-27 school year, more than 54,000 applications were submitted to participate in the program.

But, in June 2024, a group filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Education Freedom Accounts program. In response, the Partnership for Educational Choice—a joint project of the Institute for Justice and EdChoice—filed a motion to intervene to defend the program on behalf of Arkansas mothers Erika Lara, Katie Parrish, and Nikita Glendenning.

After a lower court denied the motion to intervene, the Partnership for Educational Choice appealed to the Arkansas Supreme Court, asserting that parents have the right to intervene to defend their interests in a program that is vital to their children’s education. The Arkansas Supreme Court agreed, holding that parents who participate in educational choice programs have unique, personal interests in defending those programs. EdChoice then took over full responsibility for litigating the lawsuit, in accordance with the broader transition of IJ’s work defending state educational-choice programs.