CHOOSE Act applications close; most applicants come from nonpublic schools
Almost 37,000 students have applied for the CHOOSE Act, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced Tuesday morning, with two-thirds of the applicants not attending the state's public schools.
Funds from the voucher-like program can be used for education-related expenses, including private school tuition. A family can receive up to $7,000 in state income tax credits per eligible student in a participating school and up to $2,000 for a student that is homeschooled.
The money for the program comes out of the Education Trust Fund, where nearly all state income tax goes. Under the law, legislators must set $100 million aside for the program starting with the FY 2026 ETF budget, which goes into effect on Oct. 1.
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'The CHOOSE Act, Alabama's education savings account program, will allow more taxpaying Alabama families the opportunity to choose a school that meets their child's individual needs,' Ivey said in a statement.
Ivey's office said the 22,167 applications represented 36,873 students. Of those, 24,506 students (66.4%) come from private school (15,436) or are homeschooled (9,070.) The office said 10,287 (28%) applications were filed for students in public and charter schools.
Of the public school applicants, the governor's office said 9,788 came from traditional public schools and 499 from charter schools.
Mobile County, which has the state's largest public school system, had the largest number of applicants, with 5,056. Jefferson County had 4,183; Montgomery had 3,849 and Madison had 2,395.
Applications to the program are currently limited to special needs students and those making under 300% of the poverty line, about $79,950 for a family of three. The program will be open to all applicants starting in 2027, without any income limits.
According to the Education Data Initiative, the average private school tuition in Alabama is $8,289 per student per year.
Democrats and a handful of Republicans from rural areas opposed the law last year, expressing concerns that it could drain the ETF and exacerbate de facto segregation in the state's public schools.
Whitney Miller-Nichols, director of governmental relations for the Council for Leaders in Alabama Schools, an organization that provides professional development, networking opportunities, communications, legal support, legislative monitoring and recognition programs for its members, said Tuesday that the organization is frustrated that a fund designed to fund public education is not being used for public education.
'Two-thirds of the people applying or not in public schools, which is what we have seen in other states,' Miller-Nichols said in a phone interview. 'Our concern is it takes $100 million out of the Education Trust Fund. And the Education Trust Fund was established in support of public education for Alabama students.'
Miller-Nichols also said the application numbers could be misleading.
'I will point out that the other thing we don't know at this point is how many of those applicants meet the income qualification,' she said. 'The net might be wider than maybe the program administrators intended, because people are applying even if they exceed the income criteria.'
According to the release, families will be notified in May if they have been awarded the funds and will be able to start using their education savings account in July for approved expenses. Gina Maiola, a spokeswoman for Ivey, said that each applicant will either receive $7,000 or $2,000 for their ESA. Of the 36,000 applicants, about 16,000 (43%) students will receive an ESA from the CHOOSE Act.
'Based on the strong response, we fully expect the $100 million to be utilized to support our taxpaying Alabama families,' she said in an email.
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