MeaganS Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 The new LEARNS Act goes into effect for some homeschoolers this year, but a lot of the information is still unclear. I just found out about this webinar being given by a member of the Dept. of Education that looks like it will answer a lot of questions and thought I might not be the only one. Here's what this says, "Join us at 7 PM Tuesday, March 26, for an online webinar about the Educational Freedom Account (EFA) program with Darrell Smith of the Arkansas Department of Education. We will cover the basics of how students can qualify for the program and how parents can enroll, but we also will have some important news and updates about the regulations that will govern the program in the 2024-25 school year. Whether you’re in the program now, interested in enrolling in it for the fall, or just want more information about how the program can provide resources for K-12 education, please join us virtually at 7 PM on March 26. Attendees will have the opportunity to submit questions using the Q&A feature in Zoom. To attend, you must register via Zoom using the link above. Please share it with anyone who might be interested. Be sure to keep the registration confirmation email you receive from Zoom." https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/1117095739940/WN_FD-ueiLNTHKNZ022sJZvVg?fbclid=IwAR0R4xteYqofBAxW1WCW0aP2191Q5RTIW_ZGBZMhJa3IjGJG9OCXILQ2T7o#/registration 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartstrings Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartstrings Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 I watched it tonight. It filled in a few details. Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeaganS Posted March 27 Author Share Posted March 27 2 hours ago, Heartstrings said: I watched it tonight. It filled in a few details. Thanks! I'm glad! I watched it too and am still pretty confused about what is going to be covered. But I'm guessing that's most likely because they don't really know yet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweet2ndchance Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 @MeaganS @Heartstrings I missed it 😞 Was there anything noteworthy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartstrings Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 1 hour ago, sweet2ndchance said: @MeaganS @Heartstrings I missed it 😞 Was there anything noteworthy? If you’ve been following it there wasn’t much that was new. There should be a recording of it up soon though. They added some details about the testing requirement. If you choose to participate you’ll have to test annually but you’ll get to pick any nationally normed standardized test to fulfill that requirement. That wasn’t clear before. You’ll need to upload the results each year by a certain date. They said there was no minimum score but that they would be looking year to year and would want to have a “conversation” if the scores declined significantly over time, which isn’t a very clear requirement. They said specifically that they wouldn’t be dictating curriculum choices but that we’ll have to get any company that we want to buy from to sign up with the state as a vendor, which will limit options. If big companies like Rainbow Resources or Christian Books are willing to sign up then that will make things easier, but I’m not sure how many smaller companies are going to be willing to do that. I guess we’ll find out. I suspect the first few years will involve a lot of work on the part of homeschoolers, we’ll have to be reaching out to curriculum companies and asking them to sign up as vendors. Once they’re signed up it’ll be easier each year though, I think. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartstrings Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 (edited) 2 hours ago, MeaganS said: I'm glad! I watched it too and am still pretty confused about what is going to be covered. But I'm guessing that's most likely because they don't really know yet. They really seem to be confused about the homeschooling side of things. The law seems designed mostly for private schools, or maybe micro schools. Homeschoolers seem to be an after thought. Edited March 27 by Heartstrings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweet2ndchance Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 Thanks @Heartstrings for the recap. When I lived overseas, we were part of a program similar to this for military families that was run out of Alaska. Rainbow Resource was an authorized vendor so it should be no problem to get them as a vendor. I have no idea about places like Christian Books because the program we were a part of paid for secular curriculum only. For smaller companies and extracurriculars, we could pay out of pocket for it and ask for reimbursement from the program. Your right, it does sound like homeschoolers were tagged on as an afterthought but hopefully they will look to other states with similar programs and follow suit. Alaska's program was excellent and we really enjoyed being a part of it while we could. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartstrings Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 I interacted with the Reform Alliance on Facebook and they have changed their stance on reimbursement. They will be doing reimbursement for expenses if you get it pre approved. In the webinar they were adamant that they would not be doing that, so that’s a reversal, I’m annoyed that they got it wrong (or changed their mind) in the webinar, but I’m glad reimbursement will be an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeaganS Posted April 6 Author Share Posted April 6 5 hours ago, Heartstrings said: I interacted with the Reform Alliance on Facebook and they have changed their stance on reimbursement. They will be doing reimbursement for expenses if you get it pre approved. In the webinar they were adamant that they would not be doing that, so that’s a reversal, I’m annoyed that they got it wrong (or changed their mind) in the webinar, but I’m glad reimbursement will be an option. For real? That will make it sooooo much easier. I'm really interested to see how it works out. My oldest qualifies this year so we'll see, but I was already trying to figure out how to get all of her various resources as "vendors" and it was going to be a major pain. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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