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.
Alabama
Alabama baseball avoids Iron Bowl sweep, wins season finale with Saturday win over Auburn
Alabama baseball won its regular season finale at Auburn 12-5 on Saturday in a game that lasted over six hours due to a ninth-inning weather delay. Auburn clinched the series with wins on Thursday and Friday, but Alabama avoided the sweep with Saturday’s victory.
The No. 24 Crimson Tide (33-21, 13-17 SEC) started the scoring with an RBI single by Kade Snell to score Ian Petrutz in the first inning. Auburn (27-26, 8-22 SEC) responded with an unearned run in the bottom of the frame. After Chris Stanfield reached first on an error and stole second, Ike Irish brought him home with an RBI single to tie the game 1-1 after one.
In the second inning, Alabama went down in order, and Auburn scored again on an RBI groundout by Stanfield. The Tigers stretched their lead to 4-1 with a two-run home run by Mason Maners in the fourth inning.
Game One: Alabama baseball falls to Auburn, 4-2, in the first game of final series of the season
Game Two: Alabama baseball battles back but drops wild game at Auburn to lose the Iron Bowl series
The Alabama offense looked flat against Auburn starter Christian Herberholz through four innings but finally got a hold of him in the fifth frame. A Will Hodo walk and Max Grant single gave the Tide runners on the corners, which Gage Miller turned into an RBI single. Petrutz laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Grant and Miller to scoring position, and a single by William Hamiter into right field gave Alabama two more runs to tie the game at 4-4.
Mac Guscette caught two Auburn runners stealing in the bottom of the fifth, and the Alabama offense stayed hot into the sixth, even after Auburn turned to Dylan Watts on the mound. Consecutive singles by T.J. McCants, Hodo and Grant loaded up the bases, and Watts was pulled for Ben Schorr. Miller welcomed Schorr to the game with a three-RBI double to reclaim the lead for Alabama. A hit-by-pitch, balk and intentional walk sequence reloaded the bases for Guscette, who got hit by a pitch to cross another run and give Alabama an 8-4 lead.
With two outs and the bases still loaded, Auburn turned to Conner McBride on the mound, marking the Tigers’ third pitching change in one Alabama trip through the lineup. McBride struck out McCants to strand the runners and end the Tide threat in the sixth, but the Tigers couldn’t respond after a double play and strikeout ended the inning quickly.
More: Where does Alabama baseball stand in NCAA Tournament projections before last SEC series?
Nick Saban Commemorative Book: Relive Nick Saban’s epic Alabama football coaching career with our special book!
Ben Hess put together another long, efficient outing on the mound for Alabama. He tied last week’s career and season-high with 6 ⅔ innings pitched and tossed a career-high 108 pitches. Hess allowed five runs (three earned runs) on 10 hits with nine strikeouts. Hess’ night ended in the bottom of the seventh after he allowed a two-out RBI single, and Alabama turned to Alton Davis II for the rest of the game.
Davis retired Auburn’s batters in order in the eighth, and Miller brought Hodo home with an RBI single for his fifth RBI of the game in the ninth. Petrutz blasted a three-run home run in the next at-bat to make it 12-5. The game then went into a lightning delay after one swing by Justin Lebron.
After a two-and-a-half-hour delay, the ninth inning resumed. Auburn’s Griffin Graves struck out three Alabama batters in a row. Looking to mount a seven-run comeback in the bottom of the ninth, Maners opened with a double and advanced to third after a groundout by Deric Fabian. Stanfield struck out swinging, and a groundout ended the game six hours and 15 minutes after it started.
With the victory, Alabama will head to Hoover as the No. 7 seed in the SEC Tournament.
Alabama
Florence, Alabama’s Kodachrome Gardens is a testament to innovation and community – Alabama News Center
Alabama
Scott Martin: Some stormy weather for Alabama Saturday, much better on Sunday – Alabama News Center
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