Under current law, Alabama’s private school tuition program will extend to every child regardless of income next year. And that has both Democratic and Republican legislators worried about public school funding.
The Choose Act ushered in a program that awards a tax credit up to $7,000 to parents for education-based expenses, including private school tuition, tutoring, educational therapy and school supplies.
The law caps eligibility at 300% above the poverty level or $79,950 for a family of three, according to the state’s Department of Health and Human Services.
That cap is set to expire, and the program will become universal, or open to any parent of an “eligible child,” on Jan. 1. In states with similar programs, particularly Arizona, a lack of income caps contributed to soaring costs and drains on public education budgets.
Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, a ranking minority member for the House Ways & Means Education Committee, said the Choose Act threatens to affect funding for programs under the Literacy Act and the Numeracy Act, which aim to improve students’ reading and math performance.