Just 10 private schools received more than $60 million in Arkansas taxpayer funds in the 2025-26 school year through the state's school choice program, Arkansas Department of Education data shows.
Arkansas' Educational Freedom Account program paid for tuition and other expenses at a total of 166 private schools last year, but a handful of larger schools stand out for the amount of money they received. Two schools were each paid more than $10 million. Shiloh Christian School in Springdale topped the list, at more than $10.6 million, and Little Rock Christian Academy was close behind, at $10.4 million, according to information obtained by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
When ranked by Educational Freedom Account funds paid out last school year, all the schools in the top 10 were located in cities with populations greater than 50,000. All but one, Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, were either parochial or had some religious affiliation.
The program uses state funds to pay for private school tuition and some homeschool expenses. In the 2025-26 school year, most families with an account received $6,864 per student, slated to rise to $7,208 in the upcoming school year. About 44,100 students received an account in the 2025-26 school year, and total state funding was $309.4 million.
The school choice program was created by the LEARNS Act, an overhaul of the K-12 education system championed by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and passed by Republicans in the Arkansas Legislature in 2023.
The 2025-26 school year was the third year of the program but the first in which every student in the state was eligible to receive an Educational Freedom Account. In its first two years, participation was limited to certain groups and capped at a certain number of students.
A state Education Department spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.
April Resima, president of the Arkansas Education Association, criticized the $60 million that the top 10 schools received, complaining that the funds "line the pockets of private school owners."
"The fact remains that our public tax dollars are being spent to make private school owners wealthy instead of taking care of our public schools, where 90% of our students attend," said Reisma, whose organization is an affiliate of the National Education Association, a teachers union.
LEARNS requires the Education Department to publish an annual report on the school choice program, but it has yet to do so for the 2025-26 school year, the first year of universal eligibility.
A report on the 2024-25 school year, prepared by the University of Arkansas' Department of Education Reform, found that the vast majority of Educational Freedom Account holders in the 2024-25 school year were already enrolled in private schools or were being homeschooled before enrolling in the school choice program.
The Education Department data shows roughly 28,100 students used their accounts to attend private school in the 2025-26 school year. Roughly 18,500 received an account to be homeschooled or attend a microschool.
An article published this month by ProPublica says about 120 private schools have opened in Arkansas in the three years since LEARNS was passed, the most out of any state with similar universal school choice programs, according to the news organization.
Recent reporting by ProPublica and the Arkansas Times detailed an incident of child abuse at one such school, the Delta Institute for the Developing Brain, and showed state officials continued to let the school participate in the program.
According to the recent department data, Pulaski Academy in Little Rock was the third-largest recipient of school choice funding in 2025-26, at more than $7.99 million. Central Arkansas Christian Schools in North Little Rock was fourth, at $6.2 million, and Harding Academy, an affiliate of Harding University in Searcy, was fifth, at just under $5 million.
"Harding Academy believes in the intent of the LEARNS Act to invest in the education of Arkansas students," Hailey Pruitt, spokeswoman for Harding, said in an emailed statement on behalf of the school, which covers prekindergarten through 12th grade. "We support efforts that expand educational opportunities and improve outcomes for children across our state. Our focus remains on providing an excellent education for the students and families we are privileged to serve."
None of the administrators or spokespersons at the other private schools on the top 10 list responded to similar questions.
The state Legislature has approved up to $379 million in state funds for the school choice program for the upcoming 2026-27 school year, or about $70 million more than last school year.
Arkansans submitted 54,442 applications for Educational Freedom Accounts for the 2026-27 school year, according to the department. That total marks a slight increase in applications from the previous year, when the department reported receiving 52,529. However, last year's application window was almost twice as long as the current year's.
Roughly 465,421 students were enrolled in public schools in Arkansas during the 2025-26 school year, according to the department.
Reisma said she believed shifting public money to private institutions "has far-reaching implications for Arkansas public schools and educators."
"For public schools, the EFA program represents a structural budget shift: state education dollars that previously flowed directly into local public school district infrastructure and classroom resources are being diverted to private tuition and homeschool expenses, without the necessary accountability attached to those monies that public schools face," she said.
Students receiving Educational Freedom Account funds from kindergarten through 10th grade must take a national, norm-referenced test each year and submit their results in math and reading, but they are not required to take the Arkansas Teaching and Learning Assessment System exam that public school students must take. Private schools are not required to publicly report their academic results.
With support from the ADG Community Journalism Project, LEARNS reporter Josh Snyder covers the impact of the law on the K-12 education system across the state, and its effect on teachers, students, parents and communities. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette maintains full editorial control over this article and all other coverage. View all LEARNS Act coverage at arkansasonline.com/learns
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