Bills to increase school choices for parents are still being considered by Alabama state legislators as time remaining in the 2023 Alabama Regular Legislative Session is starting to become an issue. There is growing support for giving parents options on where their children are educated. Now how to do that without harming the existing legacy public school systems is an issue that the Alabama Legislature is presently grappling with.
House Bill 363 (HB363) is sponsored by State Rep. Terri Collins. HB363 passed the Alabama House of Representatives on a 76 to 25 vote on May 11. Since then, the charter schools legislation has been referred to the Senate Education Policy Committee. HB363 is on the committee agenda for Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. in the Finance and Taxation Room on floor eight of the Alabama Statehouse.
The Alabama School Choice and Student Opportunity Act changes the appointment process for the Alabama Public Charter School Commission; authorizes the Commission to hire staff; requires commissioners to receive annual training; provides additional guidelines for the authorizing and application review process; provides further for the operational and categorical funding of public charter schools in their first year of operation; and clarifies the per pupil federal, state, and local funding of conversion public charter schools during their first year of operation.
“All charter schools are public schools,” explained Rep. Collins. “We have three conversion schools in Montgomery, Mobile, west Alabama, Birmingham has a few, Fairfield, and there are a couple more in Montgomery.”
The current law allows a public school system to convert an existing public school into a charter school. It also allows nonprofit groups that recognize a need to take their own funds to build and operate a charter school and apply for permission from the local school authorities to open a charter school. If that application is denied, then that organization may submit its request to the Alabama Public Charter School Commission.
Senate Bill 202 (SB202) is sponsored by State Senator Larry Stutts. The Parental Rights In Children’s Education (PRICE) Act for K-12 education “would secure the fundamental constitutional rights of parents to direct the education of their children according to their religious faith, beliefs, values, and morals. This bill would create and provide for the PRICE Program and would establish a three-year phase-in period.”
It establishes a Parent Advisory Board and “would provide for the funding of the PRICE ESA Fund and the PRICE Administration Fund for the costs of administering the PRICE Program.” The bill would also provide for implementing and administrating the PRICE Program and using education savings accounts. It would specify the qualified expenses that can be paid from an education savings account.
The bill would give parents $6,900 to put into an Education Savings Account that the parents could use at a public school, a public charter school, a private school, or a religious school.
SB202 spent three weeks in Senate Committees; but received a favorable report on May 17. The program cost was capped at $50 million in the substitute that passed the committee. SB202 could be considered by the full Senate as early as Tuesday.
House Bill 295 (HB295) is sponsored by Rep. Ernie Yarborough. HB295 was referred to committee in the House and has not been acted on in committee and is not on the committee agenda for Wednesday. That the House has yet to address HB295 is not a good indicator for the PRICE Act if it gets out of the Senate.
Senate Bill 297 (SB297) is sponsored by Sen. Will Barfoot. SB297 is the Senate version of HB363. It received a favorable report from the Senate Education Policy Committee on May 11. It could be considered by the full Senate as early as Tuesday. SB297’s having advanced in committee indicates that HB363 will also advance out of committee.
The Alabama Republican Party has endorsed school choice, but the Alabama Education Association and the Alabama School Superintendents Association are both staunchly opposed to any serious expansion of parental choice. Republicans have commanding supermajorities in both Houses of the Alabama Legislature, so they can pass school choice whether or not Democrats are in support. The question is how many Republican legislators are influenced by conservative principles on government versus how many are influenced more by lobbyist campaign dollars.
Tuesday will be the 24th legislative day of the 2023 Alabama Regular Legislative Session. The Constitution of Alabama of 1901 limits the regular session to a maximum of 30 legislative days.
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