University Charter School and the Alabama School of Math and Science have been approved to accept ESAs, but officials told AL.com they are still waiting to understand how they can use the funds.Board member Traci West asked what would happen if a parent was dissatisfied with their provider or the education they were receiving.How do […]
University Charter School and the Alabama School of Math and Science have been approved to accept ESAs, but officials told AL.com they are still waiting to understand how they can use the funds.Board member Traci West asked what would happen if a parent was dissatisfied with their provider or the education they were receiving.How do I apply for a CHOOSE tax credit? “You’re obviously not educators, so what is that process?” she said.Under the current law, public school students may use ESAs if the school they plan to enroll in charges tuition. Some students who are not currently enrolled in public schools may be able to use funds for some services or classes that public schools provide.Oversight of voucher-like programs can vary from state to state. In Alabama, participating schools are required to be accredited and must agree to test students annually, but they can choose from a range of assessments that may or may not be aligned to state or national standards.Applications close April 7 and will begin to be disbursed for use from July 1 to June 30 of the following year. A school has to let the department know if the child unenrolls, and the department will freeze those funds until they can verify if the child has enrolled in a new school or a home education program. If those programs are approved providers, a student may use the remainder of their ESA to pay for those services.
- With the lowest household income,
- With children with disabilities and
- Who are active-duty military with children enrolled at priority schools.
Payments do not go into the parent’s pocketbook or into their own wallets. They must coordinate through ClassWallet’s portal for those transactions. It is unclear how many applicants currently attend an Alabama private school or are public school students who intend to enroll in a different school.Clark confirmed that this will remain the case when eligibility expands to all families in 2027.Schools are required to report enrollment numbers to the department of revenue in the beginning of the year, but Clark said the department doesn’t plan to field complaints about the quality of education.“Now, a lot of people hear ‘federal poverty level’ and automatically think, ‘Well, I’m not going to qualify,’” she said. “From our data, being revenue, we know that about 75% of Alabama families could otherwise qualify.”Which schools, providers will take tax credits? The CHOOSE Act, which opened applications in January, provides eligible families with ,000 education savings accounts that can be used for tuition and other expenses at private schools or approved vendors. Homeschoolers can also receive up to ,000, or ,000 per household. If there are any funds left after that year, they are rolled back into the state’s CHOOSE Act fund. However, once a child is in the program, they’re given preference for the next year.Cameran Clark, director of tax policy and government affairs for the department, told state education officials Thursday that nearly 75% of households in Alabama earn less than the income threshold of ,600 – 300% of the federal poverty level – required to participate in the program. “The ones that need the most assistance will get it before the ones, again, that may not need much,” she said.“It goes back to the parent’s decision and where they place their child,” she said. “And we do not infringe on any parent-school contracts and those types of aspects.”Lee County Schools, on the other hand, said it no longer plans to participate in the program at this time. The district announced last summer that it intended to accept ESAs from out-of-district students, and a posting on its website still cites the CHOOSE Act.Who is managing accountability, oversight?Individual vendors and providers, such as tutors and therapists, are required to show some certifications and pass a background check, but are not required to report any additional student information to the department.“We’ve gotten dozens of calls, probably more than dozens, from parents, because they assume that it’s an education bill, but it’s designed as a tax credit bill, not an education bill,” State Superintendent Eric Mackey told the board in January. The program, intended to serve low-income families, has seen applications skyrocket since its opening. “It’s not clear to me what those three can get out of it, because they are all three by law forbidden from charging tuition,” Mackey told board members. “So I don’t know what, if a student’s going to University Charter School and University Charter School by law can’t charge tuition, I don’t know what the tax credit is for. I’m not saying they can’t get it somehow, but that’ll be up to Revenue to figure out.”Alabama Connections Academy, a public virtual school in Athens, also was approved but has been removed from the list. Principal Casey Wigginton told AL.com the school was added to the list by mistake.Priority will be given to families:“Because we have specific requirements to do a tuition, we haven’t applied to join the CHOOSE Act as it imposes other requirements,” Superintendent Mike Howard told AL.com. As of Friday, Feb. 14, the department has received 11,917 applications for 20,100 students, according to a spokesman. The legislature has allotted 0 million to fund the program in its first year, covering accounts for up to 14,000 students.Why are some public schools on the list?In recent weeks, state board of education members said they have received several calls from parents who are confused about eligibility and what the funds can be used for. “A lot of times, parents will see this opportunity to use the funds for what they can pay for, and if there’s something outside of that, they then, of course, can use their own funds,” Clark said. “But this has alleviated some of the financial burden overall.”Nearly three out of every four Alabama households are eligible to receive taxpayer-funded savings accounts for private school tuition, according to new data from the Alabama Department of Revenue.The program will be operated by ALDOR, not the state department of education.So far just over 200 schools have been approved to participate. More than 150 other service providers, including tutors and textbook companies, have been approved by the state. (Can’t see the table? View it here.)
