Lawmakers took action on more than 35 bills affecting preK, K-12 and higher education, sending several measures to Gov. Kay Ivey and advancing others ahead of a final push when they return Tuesday.
Education bills
Among the biggest education bills to receive final passage last week were:
The $12.4 billion FY27 Education Trust Fund budget package. The eight-bill package flew through a Senate Education Budget committee April 1 and onto the Senate floor the next day. Some small adjustments were made to the $10.4 billion regular budget, the $420 million supplemental and the $1 billion allocation from the Education Advancement and Technology Fund.
They weren’t big changes, except for the addition of a $32.3 million allocation for a one-time bonus for education retirees. Those three bills head back to the House for concurrence, but the remaining bills went to Ivey.
Higher education performance outcome incentive program, CHEER, created. House Bill 565, sponsored by Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, creates the College and Higher Education Excellence and Results Act. Lawmakers will work with two- and four-year colleges and universities to determine individualized performance goals, such as graduation rates, that the institution will strive to attain. The law also creates a CHEER Fund, from which will be distributed a pre-determined amount of funding if the goal is achieved.
Religious instruction released time requirements adjusted. Senate Bill 248, sponsored by Sen. Shay Shelnutt, R-Trussville, received final passage April 1. It adds guardrails to the current state law allowing students to attend off-campus religious instruction. It still leaves the decision of whether to create the policy to local school boards, but provides a more complete list of requirements if a school board wants to do so. Effective July 1.
School threat bill strengthened and expanded. House Bill 7, sponsored by Rep. James Lomax, R-Huntsville, expands a number of provisions to the state’s school threat law, including upping the classification of a first degree terrorist threat a Class B felony. It creates the term “credible threat” to clarify what type of threat is a crime.
It also expands the definition of terrorist threat in the first degree to include when the threat intends to cause disruption in a school, church, hospital, nursing home or other building housing disabled or immobile individuals.
It also requires a student charged with making a terrorist threat to be suspended from the regular classroom until a due process hearing is held. The student can continue with their education but cannot return to the classroom until all charges have been disposed of and the student has had a mental health evaluation. If the student is found guilty, the student must be expelled from school. It becomes effective July 1.
University of Alabama School of Social Work requirement removed. House Bill 152, sponsored by Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, received final passage April 2. It repeals a 1966 state law that required the University of Alabama to maintain a School of Social Work. The repeal, Garrett said, doesn’t mean the school is abolished. However, it does give university officials authority to determine whether to maintain a separate school or combine it with another one. Effective Oct. 1.
Reduction in required time to post certain education positions before filling. House Bill 225, sponsored by Rep. Van Smith, R-Prattville, reduces the amount of time a vacancy of a supervisory, managerial or newly created position that occurs during the school year must be posted from 14 days to seven days. Smith said education officials requested the change. Effective Oct. 1.
What’s left to pass
Lawmakers also moved several additional education bills forward last week, though those measures still await final passage, including:
- House Bill 8 — Would allow chaplains to serve on K-12 school campuses.
- House Bill 98 — Would create a scholarship program for dependents of law enforcement officers.
- House Bill 380 — Would allow county boards of education to consolidate. A similar bill, House Bill 178 would allow city school boards to consolidate. Both await passage on the Senate floor.
- House Bill 517 — Would create the Talent Readiness and Industry Needs Act which incentivizes public-private partnerships to fill career and technical education teaching positions. It creates a workforce teaching certificate for qualified employees and provides tax credits for employers who loan qualified employees to teach CTE classes in public schools and community colleges. The credit is capped at $10 million statewide and would begin with the 2027 tax year.
Lawmakers also still have a long list of education bills they could take up before adjournment, including:
- Ten Commandments display — House Bill 216/Senate Bill 99 would require public schools to display a poster of the Ten Commandments in schools with fifth- through 12th-grade students.
- Sex education in K-12 schools — Senate Bill 209 would require schools to emphasize that abstinence is the only sure way to avoid unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.
- School prayer and Pledge of Allegiance requirement — House Bill 511 would require a vote on a Constitutional Amendment requiring schools to hold the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of each school day. It would also require schools to offer a daily opportunity for students to engage voluntarily in prayer.
- Expedited career technical teaching certification pathway — House Bill 520 would create a streamlined process for qualified individuals to obtain a certificate to teach career and technical education in public schools.
- Screen time standards for K-12 students — House Bill 584 would require K-12 schools to follow standards for screen time usage developed by the State Board of Education.
- Accountability Council created — House Bill 604 would create the Accountability Council, which would advise the State Board of Education on how to adjust weights and measures used on the A-F School report card.
- Sick leave donation for any reason and among K-12 school districts — Senate Bill 211 would allow K-12 school employees to donate accumulated sick leave to an employee in a different school district for any reason.
- Trump Account income tax exclusion — House Bill 250 and Senate Bill 79 would exempt from income tax any amounts an employer contributes to a Trump Account for an employee or the employee’s dependent.
- National Guard Educational Assistance program — House Bill 233 expands the current program to include financial assistance with workforce development programs as well as allow for payment earlier in the academic term.
- Charter school bonding authority — Senate Bill 62 would create a finance authority to allow a new entity, the Alabama Charter School Finance Authority, to issue bonds for capital improvements and then issue loans for charter schools to finance capital projects.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Trisha Powell Crain and originally published by the Alabama Daily News.
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