This series highlights nominees for SPN’s annual Bob Williams Awards.
More than anything, an education gives students options. And for years, Alabama’s schools were leaving their students with few.
In 2019, Alabama’s public school math scores were last in the nation. For the 2022-2023 school year, Alabama’s K-12 students had a proficiency ranking of 49 percent in English/Language Arts (ELA), 29 percent in Math, and 38 percent in Science. Also, every single Alabama fourth and eighth grader ranked below the national average in reading and math.
Alabama was failing its children.
To change that, leading up to the 2024 legislative session, the Alabama Policy Institute (API) laid the groundwork for the biggest victory for education freedom in state history.
For years, Alabama’s public schools have ranked near the bottom of national rankings. But instead of enacting systemic reforms to improve schools, the state’s elected leaders simply threw money at the problem. From 2019 through 2023, total education spending (including supplemental appropriations) grew by 66 percent. Over the past ten years, education funding has soared by over 82 percent in the state. But unfortunately for students, simply giving failing schools more money hasn’t translated into better results. Alabama has perennially ranked near the bottom in nearly every education metric.
In the 2010s, Alabama enacted two small school choice programs. One was a scholarship program and the other a tax credit program. While both were laudable attempts at giving Alabama families better educational options, neither wound up being widely used (only 26 students participated in the tax credit program in 2021).
Based on these past attempts and the political dynamics of the state, API’s team knew a universal school choice program was the only real way to improve results and give students the options they needed. So, they launched a year-long campaign to do just that.
API provided critical research and public awareness, as well as worked to build a coalition of education reformers to champion the most freedom-oriented universal school choice program in the nation.
To ensure education freedom made it to the finish line, API launched the Students First Campaign. In the summer of 2023, they publicized comparisons of school choice options and shared data that highlighted the significant influence of the Alabama Education Association (AEA) on blocking real reform. Moving into the fall of 2023, they brought attention to Alabama’s poor educational performance, despite increased spending, and garnered national attention through their work on the AEA.
Early in 2024, they launched the Blueprint for Alabama, which prioritized education freedom as a key issue and releasing the accompanying Educational Freedom Report. During legislative session, API worked tirelessly with lawmakers and united leaders in education policy to form a coalition in support. This included hosting Alabama’s Education Freedom Day, an event SPN also helped support, to bring education advocates together, including school leaders, students, and key lawmakers.
All this work led to results. In March of 2024, the legislature passed the CHOOSE Act and the governor signed it into law.
Beginning next year, Alabama students will now have access to up to $7,000 to pay for the education that best serves their needs. For too long, Alabama students’ educations left them with few options. But because of the Alabama Policy Institute, Alabama families will finally have the options—and the futures—they deserve
