Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey wants a $100M school choice plan: Here's what to know about the bill
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Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced her support for the Creating Hope and Opportunity for Our Students' Education Act during her State of the State address on Tuesday.
Known as the CHOOSE Act, the bill would establish education savings accounts for parents of participating students to help offset costs of certain education expenses in the state — including private school.
The ESAs, a type of school voucher program, would be available to families whose gross incomes do not exceed 300 percent of the federal poverty line the preceding year for the 2025-2026 academic calendar under the proposal. They would become available to all parents of students who meet age guidelines starting Jan. 1, 2027.
"Passing an education savings account bill that works for families and for Alabama is my No. 1 legislative priority," Ivey said, "and I am proud to have our education budget chairmen, Sen. Arthur Orr and Rep. Danny Garrett carry the CHOOSE Act."
ESAs would be an annual credit, capped at $7,000, for participating students enrolled in participating schools. For students not enrolled in participating schools — like those being homeschooled — the credit would be capped at $2,000, with a $4,000 maximum per family. Also, the first 500 slots would be reserved for parents of eligible students with disabilities.
To fund the accounts, the Alabama State Treasury would establish the CHOOSE Act Fund. The legislature would be required to appropriate at least $100 million to the fund annually. The legislature considered a similar bill in 2023 that included $864 million in funding. The PRICE Act, introduced by Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia, would have provided $6,900 for public school students, but it failed to reach the Senate floor.
Qualifying expenses
The following are listed as qualifying educational expenses under the CHOOSE Act:
Tuition and fees at a participating school
Textbooks
Fees for after-school or summer education programs provided by a participating school
Private tutoring
Curricula or instructional materials
Tuition and fees for nonpublic online learning programs
Educational software applications
Fees for standardized and nationally recognized assessments, including college admissions tests, advanced placement exams and related preparatory courses
Education services for students with disabilities from a licensed or accredited practitioner or education service provider
Contracted services provided by a public school district including specific classroom instruction
How participation would work
To participate in the program, parents of eligible students would need to submit required information to the Alabama Department or Revenue to prove qualification. Participating students would also be required to take a standardized assessment. The assessment would be administered by a participating school, as part of the school's requirements to participate in the program.
Qualifying assessments are as follows:
An assessment aligned to the curricula of the participating school
A nationally norm-referenced achievement assessment
A nationally recognized aptitude assessment of the participating school's choice
Some students with disabilities would be exempt from the testing requirement.
What about oversight
Education services, public/private schools, charter schools, home schooling programs would have to hold a valid occupancy permit if required by the area's municipality, provide financial statements to the Department or Revenue and continuously inform the department of the registration statuses of participating students or misuse of program funds.
Schools would also be in charge of creating a standard application form for parents wishing to participate, establish and publicize deadlines, explicitly provide written explanations to parents and remit all unused ESA funds to the CHOOSE Act Fund at the end of the academic year. A list of participating schools has not yet been specified.
The Alabama Department of Revenue would conduct random financial audits of ESAs, participating schools and other education service providers catch potential cases of fraud or misuse of funds.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Alabama school choice: What to know about the $100M proposal
