Editor’s note: This article appeared last weekend on reason.com.
A comprehensive Alabama school choice bill is stalled in an Alabama Senate study group following objections from legislators and public school advocates.
The Parent’s Choice Act, introduced by Sen. Del Marsh, R-Anniston, would provide families with state-funded education savings accounts that could be used to pay for private school tuition, standardized test prep, and homeschooling, among other qualifying education expenses.
Because SB140 would use public education dollars to empower families to leave their local public school, the bill has faced considerable backlash from public school defenders, with Sen. Kirk Hatcher (D-Montgomery) describing the Parent’s Choice Act is an effort to “dismantle public education.”
The Alabama Education Association, which represents public school teachers, released a statement alleging that “The Parent’s Choice Bill is nothing but a shell game of a voucher program to divert funding from our community schools.” The group added that “Alabama’s students and educators cannot afford to take almost a half a billion-dollar hit from public education.”
The bill has also faced considerable opposition in the Alabama Senate, where it’s been assigned to a study commission, where some objections may get ironed.
To continue reading, click here.
