Alabama
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey wants a $100M school choice plan: Here’s what to know about the bill
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.
Governor Kay Ivey on Thursday set an execution date for death row inmate Jeremy Williams, who was convicted in the 2021 kidnapping, rape and murder of 5-year-old Kamarie Holland in Phenix City.
Williams is scheduled to be executed by the state’s three-drug lethal injection during a 30-hour window beginning at 12 a.m. August 13 and ending at 6 a.m. August 14. The execution date comes after the Alabama Supreme Court granted a request from Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office on June 16, authorizing the state to carry out the sentence.
In a letter to Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Greg Lovelace, Ivey said the Supreme Court’s June 16 order serves as the official death warrant for Williams.
“By law, I am required to specify the time frame for carrying out the sentence of death,” Ivey said. “Accordingly, I hereby order that Jeremy Lee Williams’s sentence of death be carried out within a time frame beginning on August 13, 2026, at 12:00 a.m. and ending on August 14, 2026, at 6:00 a.m.”
Ivey noted that she retains the authority to commute the sentence before the execution takes place.
Williams, 34, was convicted in April 2024 on four counts of capital murder stemming from Holland’s death. Prosecutors charged him with capital murder during a kidnapping, capital murder during a rape, capital murder during first-degree sodomy and capital murder of a child younger than 14.
Authorities said Holland disappeared from her family’s home in Phenix City on December 13, 2021. Her body was discovered two days later inside an abandoned house less than a mile away. An autopsy determined that she had been sexually assaulted and strangled.
In addition to the death sentence, Williams received several other prison terms. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for human trafficking and for knowingly producing recordings depicting the sexual abuse of a child. He also received another life sentence for a separate sexual abuse conviction, along with a 20-year sentence for conspiracy to commit human trafficking and a 10-year sentence for abuse of a corpse.
Unlike most death row inmates, Williams sought to speed up the execution process. During a hearing, he told the court that he accepted responsibility for his actions and wanted the sentence carried out.
In 2025, Williams dismissed his attorneys and informed the court that he wished to waive any remaining appeals and proceed with his execution. Russell County Circuit Court Judge David Johnson determined that Williams was competent to make that decision and allowed him to forgo further legal challenges.
Under Alabama law, capital convictions automatically receive appellate review. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals subsequently affirmed Williams’ conviction and death sentence in March.
After that review concluded, the Alabama Attorney General’s Office petitioned the Alabama Supreme Court in May to authorize an execution date. The court granted the request earlier this week, clearing the way for Ivey to schedule the execution.
If carried out as scheduled, Williams’ execution would occur nearly five years after Holland’s death and a little more than two years after he was sentenced to death.
Williams’ execution would be Alabama’s first by lethal injection since April 2025. The state’s three most recent executions were carried out using nitrogen hypoxia, which Alabama began using in 2024.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – You don’t find too many camps where you learn how to slap someone. But this summer, you will in Montgomery. It’s one of many kids camps put on by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival.
“We have our Camp Shakespeare Junior which is our half day for the littles, kindergarten through 3rd grade,” said Cameron Williams, the ASF director of education. “We have Big Kid Shakespeare camp and everyone is learning all about ‘Much Ado About Nothing’.”
They learn about on stage combat, different acting techniques, and also how to be creative and think on their feet.
“I think theater skills are life skills. So, what makes this camp special is we’re doing more than just boosting literacy and doing theater things. We’re doing life skills, learning what it means to be team players, about discipline, and working with people who may have different personalities than you.”
Different kids have different talents. And even if your child isn’t up for a lead role in the next play, this place can leave a lasting impact.
“If you’re looking for a place where your kid can come out of their shell, to learn how to speak in front of a group, and develop some confidence, this is the place to be.”
It’s a place that’s a real treasure in Montgomery, and its mining some young gems, who one day, could be on the big stage themselves. There are still more ASF camps going on this summer for pre-teens and even adults.
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Huntsville-based defense contractor LOGZONE Inc. has agreed to pay $507,144 to resolve allegations that it failed to comply with cybersecurity requirements in contracts with the U.S. Department of the Navy, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The settlement resolves claims brought under the False Claims Act alleging that LOGZONE knowingly submitted claims for payment while not meeting certain cybersecurity standards required under two Navy contracts.
Federal officials alleged that between May 2021 and March 2025, LOGZONE did not implement specific cybersecurity controls outlined in National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication 800-171. The standards are designed to protect sensitive defense information handled by government contractors.
According to the Justice Department, the deficiencies were identified during an assessment conducted by the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA). The evaluation resulted in LOGZONE receiving a score of -170 on a scale ranging from -203 to 110, indicating significant gaps in compliance with required security controls.
The government alleged that the missing cybersecurity measures could have increased the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive information or the exploitation of company systems.
The settlement does not include a determination of liability. As part of the agreement, LOGZONE will pay $507,144 to resolve the allegations.
Federal officials said the enforcement action reflects ongoing efforts to ensure government contractors comply with cybersecurity obligations tied to federal contracts, particularly those involving sensitive defense information.
The investigation and settlement involved the Justice Department’s Civil Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama, the Department of the Navy, the Defense Contract Management Agency, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division.
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Additional details regarding corrective actions taken by the company were not immediately available.
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