BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – As Alabama prepares for the first school year under the CHOOSE Act’s education savings accounts, attention is turning to who will benefit.
Much of the focus has been on private school and homeschool students, but there’s another group of students eligible for ESAs worth $7,000 for tuition and other education expenses: Public school students attending out-of-district, tuition-charging public schools.
How many public school students get access to the program will depend on how many public schools opt in. So far, it appears two public schools want to accept students under the new school choice program approved by lawmakers last spring. But details on how that will work are still being clarified.
University Charter School in Livingston is one of the two willing to participate so far.
“We are still researching how we can participate, if at all,” UCS Superintendent J.J. Wedgworth said, noting they do not charge tuition.
The Alabama School of Math and Science is also participating in the program, hoping to help families with school-based fees, said Director of External Relations Allyson McMaken.
“Many of our students come from underserved communities, so we try to reduce costs and make opportunities accessible,” she told Alabama Daily News.
Alabama Association of School Boards Executive Director Sally Smith said each school district needs to make the decision whether to participate.
“I think it’s a policy decision based on local needs and concerns, particularly if there’s excess capacity in the school system,” she said.
“If your system is facing declining enrollment, this could be a way to buttress your enrollments,” she added.
Schools and education service providers can apply year-round, and the Alabama Department of Revenue regularly updates the list. The application process for families and students opened Jan.2 and will remain open through Apr. 7. As of Monday, ALDOR had received 7,777 applications for 13,275 students.
Alabama is unique in allowing full-time public school students the ability to get an ESA. Other states restrict ESA eligibility to private or homeschool students.
This eligibility stems from a desire to expand educational options for students who don’t currently have choices, according to Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, one of the original sponsors of the bill. Collins chairs the House Education Policy Committee and supports a wide range of school choice options.
“I am hoping that we are giving families the choice that really need choice and not to those that already have all the choices,” Collins said. Public school students who choose to attend their zoned school are already exercising that choice.
The CHOOSE Act law is clear that the only time a public school student will be eligible for an ESA is if the public school charges tuition, which some public schools already do for students living outside their district boundaries.
Alabama Daily News was unable to obtain the number of students attending a school district other than where they’re zoned to attend.
That tuition is intended to make up for the local property taxes that in-district families pay to support their schools. Local tax support per student varies widely among Alabama’s public schools: From $175 in Chilton County to $11,585 in Orange Beach City schools during the 2022-23 school year.
Here are a few examples of tuition amounts that Alabama Daily News found on school districts’ websites:
- Decatur City schools: $500 for students living in Morgan County, $1,000 for those outside the county,
- Saraland City schools: $1,500 per student,
- Jefferson County schools: $2,200 for out-of-district students attending the middle or high school International Baccalaureate program,
- Lee County schools: $7,000, the full ESA amount, after making that decision last summer.
The CHOOSE Act’s $7,000 ESA can help cover tuition. If any of the funds are left over, they can be used for other eligible educational expenses, according to the ALDOR spokesperson Frank Miles.
Those expenses include registration fees, technology fees, Advanced Placement test fees, computers, and private tutoring. A full list of eligible expenses is outlined in the CHOOSE Act Parent Guide available on the official website.
ALDOR will verify where a student is enrolled before paying any expenses, according to Miles. All expenses are paid directly to education service providers or participating schools, not to families.
The chart below was developed by ADN to more clearly show when ESAs could be given to public school students and when public schools can accept ESA payments.
Public schools can also participate in the CHOOSE Act by offering specific courses to non-enrolled students. For example, homeschooled or private school students can pay to take courses or electives not available to them otherwise.
The CHOOSE Act represents a big expansion of Alabama’s school choice landscape. By including public school students who face financial barriers to attending schools outside of their district, ESAs can provide opportunities that were previously out of reach.