Members of the Alabama House Education Appropriations Committee have asked Chairman Danny Garrett (R-Trussville) to approve an updated bill that would create Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) for eligible students at the start of the 2025-2026 school year. I asked a lot of questions during the submission. School year.
HB129 provides eligible families with $7,000 in state taxes per student to pay for their child's education at a participating school and other eligible expenses. Low-income families and students with disabilities would be eligible to receive the money first. All households will be eligible at the start of the 2027-28 school year.
“The purpose behind this legislation is to provide parents with opportunities that are not currently available to them,” Garrett said. “To use a portion of your tax dollars to choose the school that best suits your child's needs, whether it be academic, social, emotional, environmental, mental health, or bullying reasons.” maybe. ”
Families who homeschool their children can receive up to $2,000 per child for eligible expenses, up to $4,000 each year.
Related: What is the ESA? Will it give Alabama new school choice options?
Rep. Debbie Wood (R-Valley) asked Garrett whether participating private schools must accept students in individualized education programs that require specialized instruction and services.
“No, private schools are not required to provide specialized services to students with disabilities,” Nick Moore, education policy advisor to Gov. Kay Ivey, responded to the question. Families must make decisions based on their child's needs.
Other commissioners expressed concerns about accountability for the state tax dollars that would be spent.
“Three years from now,” Rep. Cynthia Almond (R-Tuscaloosa) asked Garrett, “how will we analyze whether this plan was a success?”
Garrett said he will investigate how many people are using ESAs and whether they are ultimately helping transform public schools.
Rep. Alan Baker (R-Bruton) asked how the program's effectiveness could be objectively evaluated. “I feel like there needs to be a unified testing system and some kind of evaluation of policy makers,” Baker said.
Baker cited the Alabama Evaluation Services Commission as the state agency with the ability to evaluate the state's return on investment in the ESA program.
The CHOOSE Act requires participating private schools to test their students, but it does not specify which tests schools must use. Opponents who spoke against the bill before the Senate Education Appropriations Committee last week said they wanted all students on ESAs to take the common test that public school students take. Supporters of the ESA say participating schools should test students based on their standards and curriculum.
Alabama does not regulate what private schools or homeschool educators teach.
“I think that's where free markets and markets come in and control how information is given to parents to make the best choices for their children,” Garrett replied.
read more: New school choice option 'top priority' for Ivey: What will it mean for public schools?
Baker said he was concerned about the possibility of taxpayer money being given to parents who claim to be home-schooling their children but aren't actually educating them. Baker said he has seen multiple cases where students who were home-schooled re-enrolled in public school and were more than a grade behind.
“I think it's a little worrying that taxpayer money is going away because it's hard to differentiate who is a responsible parent and who is an irresponsible parent,” Baker said. “To me, without some kind of test to assess student performance, we really don't know if these dollars are being wasted.”
Garrett said guardrails on how funds are used need to know whether ESAs are being used for appropriate and eligible expenses.
Mr. Baker also expressed concern about allowing unaccredited schools to participate and receive ESA funding. The bill would allow unaccredited schools to participate and give him three years to go through the accreditation process.
Garrett said this time would allow time to establish private schools in areas where there are few private schools for students to attend. At least 12 counties have only one private school within the county, and five counties have no private school, according to a map created by the Alabama State Board of Education.
Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, said she is concerned about the quality of education offered by participating private schools. “Will these private schools and home schools require certified teachers?” she asked.
Garrett said there is no requirement in the bill for public school alternatives to employ certified teachers.
Professor Drummond also expressed concern that parents are not fully informed about their options, as private schools are not required to provide testing or other information to parents.
“When you talk about school choice, you're empowering parents, and it's their duty to be diligent,” Garrett responded.
“All we can do is ensure that where they go meets the requirements and standards,” he continued. “It's really up to the parents to decide whether that's the best school for their students. We have to trust them to make that decision.”
One of the concerns raised by opponents at last week's Senate education budget hearing was whether lawmakers should continue to allocate funds if no one takes advantage of the ESA. Garrett said the new version would limit annual funding to the ESA to $100 million if 90%, or $90 million, was unspent in the previous year.
He said lawmakers could allocate more than $100 million without a cap if more than 90% of the $100 million is spent.
The committee held a public hearing in which five supporters, one opponent, and four neutrals spoke about the bill.
The committee is scheduled to vote on the new version of the bill tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. The new version introduced during committee was not available online until this article was published.