State House to consider creating education savings accounts
HB84, the Education Savings Account act, a school choice bill sponsored by Rep. Ken Johnson (R-Moulton) will be considered by the full Alabama House of Representatives when the legislature returns from spring break Tuesday. While the public charter schools approved in recent years won’t open until fall of 2017, education savings accounts (ESAs) would be able to be used almost immediately by parents of children with learning disabilities, autism, or illnesses preventing them from leaving home who have been issued individual education plans (IEPs). There are currently about 80,000 students with IEPs in the state, but the program institutes a cap of 1,000 students, and will be available for parents beginning in the 2016-2017 school year if it successfully passes through the legislature and is approved by the governor. The bill would allow those parents to use 90 percent of the money that would have otherwise been allocated to their child’s district for programs including tutoring and specialized education. In order to use the savings account, parents must agree to make sure their children receive education in reading, mathematics, grammar, social studies, and science. Further, the child may not enroll in a charter school or in the Alabama Tax Credit Scholarship Program while participating in the ESA. Using the most recent publicly available figures, the plan would allow participating families to put about $4,700 into the savings accounts for their students’ use. If money is left over at the end of the year, up to $2,000 can be transferred from the education savings accounts to a Section 529 or “Coverdell” account for higher education or other approved expenditures. If the legislation is passed, Alabama will be the seventh state to institute an Educational Savings Account program, following in the footsteps of Arizona, Florida, Mississippi, Nevada, Tennessee, and Virginia, whose governor has yet to sign theirs into law. Legislatures in 10 states, including Alabama, are considering ESAs this year. According to the American Federation for Children, a proponent of the legislation, there are several schools, both public and private, who are ready and willing to accept the eligible students in either a fully-enrolled or a-la-carte capacity. The bill is likely to be opposed by many Democrats and the Alabama Education Association.
William J. Canary: Public charter schools are valuable to business’ future
We are encouraged by the progress made toward creating public charter schools, schools that promise to be a vital part of the well-educated workforce that will work in and run Alabama businesses well into the middle of this century. Last year, thousands of parents, students, and teachers gathered in Montgomery for School Choice Week to urge the Legislature to give parents a choice. With the Business Council of Alabama’s urging, the Legislature responded and passed the Alabama School Choice and Student Opportunity Act. Alabama is now the 43rd state with a charter school law. Later this month, people from across Alabama again will gather in Montgomery for School Choice Week that is designated Jan. 25-29, to show support for improving the quality of education and expanding access to highly effective schools. The Alabama celebration of School Choice Week will be 11 a.m. Jan. 26 on the south lawn of the Capitol. We encourage participation in this endeavor that is an important part of Alabama’s goal of growing our role as a leader in a global economy. Students are expected to enroll next year in inaugural public charter schools that are now being planned, giving parents a say in where their children attend school without having to move. Public charter schools will be innovative in teaching and managing. Public charter schools will be held accountable and will have safety and health regulations. Students also will take state assessment exams. If parents and their children find public charter school are good learning environments and foster high academic expectations, then the schools will continue to turn out students that their parents envision. Right now if you have money or you can afford to move, you might send your children to private school. The BCA believes that all children deserve a chance for a quality education and that all parents should be given the opportunity to seek it. Charter schools can be an attractive alternative to parents of children who, due to geography, are locked into a situation where they cannot reach their full potential. Public charter schools will be another tool to use as we strive for education excellence and prepare our children for a fulfilling future. In 2014, the Business Education Alliance of Alabama – an organization that joins education and business – called for pursuing the goal of attaining a 90 percent high school graduation rate by the year 2020. Right now our graduation rate is 86 percent and increasing. While that is good news, one-third of our students need remedial courses for college and student proficiency of mastery of content is well below average. The success of Alabama’s business community depends on a public education system that produces graduates with skills required for the 21st century work place. If Alabama is to continue to attract the aerospace, automobile, and rocket manufacturing facilities that have made us the envy of the rest of the nation, and if we are going to foster growth of our biotech, high-tech, and research industries, we must provide our children the education and skills that those jobs demand. At the BCA we are dedicated to doing our part because the future is for all of us. William J. Canary is president and CEO of the Business Council of Alabama.
