Lawmakers approved the CHOOSE Act last year because they said parents want more choices in where their children go to school. A first look at the private schools signed up for the program shows those choices are plentiful in some areas but scarce in others.
That’s expected and common, advocates say.
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An Alabama Daily News map shows the location of almost every private school currently participating. Out of 246 schools, just one couldn’t be mapped because it does not publish a physical address for safety reasons. The map offers a visual snapshot of where the program is starting and where gaps exist.
The largest concentrations of participating schools are in Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile and Huntsville. For families in those areas, participating schools could be within a short drive. Additional clusters of participating schools appear in Tuscaloosa, the Shoals area of northwest Alabama, Dothan in the Wiregrass region and southern Baldwin County.
Unanswered questions
Outside of those areas, the map looks different. Fourteen counties, most along the state’s eastern and western borders, don’t have a participating school. Another 19 counties have one. For families in these places, using the program could mean driving an hour or more each way — a challenge for those without reliable transportation or flexible work schedules. Alabama does not regulate or license private schools, so there is no official count of how many private schools there are statewide. That means it’s unclear what percentage of the state’s existing private schools are participating.
While most participating schools are private, two public school systems — Dothan City schools and Mobile County public schools — are participating. Under the law, students from outside those public districts can use an ESA to enroll there.
House Education Budget Danny Garrett said he isn’t surprised that there are places where participating private schools are few.
“Some private schools probably like the size they are and don’t want to grow,” he said.
Another reason a school might not choose to participate is because participation means providing data to state officials, he added.
EdChoice policy director Nathan Sanders echoed Garrett’s remarks, telling Alabama Daily News that private schools also tend to be located where the population can support them, typically in urban or suburban areas.
“If you have a rural district there’s not a ton of kids in terms of your student population,” Sanders said. “Maybe there isn’t a big enough demand for someone to come in and open a private Christian or other type of school.” But he noted that CHOOSE Act ESAs can also be used for virtual or homeschooling, giving families without a nearby private school another way to participate.
He added that it’s common for new school choice programs to grow gradually as both families and education providers see how the system works.
“If you look at a place like Florida, which has had some form of school choice for more than 20 years, the education market is now incredibly diverse,” he said. “I’d be shocked if (Alabama’s) map looks the same three years from now.”
Sanders said the 37,000 applications for Alabama ESAs submitted this year show there is strong demand for the program, even if participation rates among private and public school students are still relatively small in year one. He expects more schools to join as the program matures and more families apply.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Trisha Powell Crain and originally published by Alabama Daily News.
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