House to consider record Alabama education budget, teacher raises

By Trisha Powell Crain

Alabama lawmakers have proposed a record $8.1 billion investment in education, with the House committee sending the budget package to the floor of the House. A vote is expected Tuesday.

The budget proposal is $125 million less than Gov. Kay Ivey’s proposal. House Education Budget Committee Chairman Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, said that money was moved back into reserve to be allocated in the next legislative session.

The House education budget shifts more money into classrooms, Garrett said, and invests in improving underperforming schools, adding teacher aides and fully funding reading coaches and technology coordinators.

Alabama State Superintendent Eric Mackey said he is happy with the committee’s proposal. “I think it’s a strong budget,” he said. “It puts a lot of money into classrooms.”

Alabama’s K-12 schools would receive $5.6 billion under the proposed budget, which is $300 million more than the current $5.3 billion allocation. Higher education would receive $2.1 billion next year, compared to $2 billion this year.

Teachers and other public school employees will receive a 4% raise, Garrett said. Currently, the budget bill lists higher raises due to technical errors, but Garrett said the salary schedule will be fixed when but it goes to the Senate. Teachers that have higher years of experience will see a more significant raise as lawmakers try to make Alabama’s salary schedule comparable to surrounding states.

Community college employees and early childhood teachers will see a 4% raise as well.

Garrett told committee members the raise will cost $180 million and the adjustments to the middle matrix for K-12 teachers costs $34 million.

The Alabama Reading Initiative, which provides supports required under the Literacy Act, would get a $14 million increase, from $80 million to $94 million.

The Foundation Program, which is based on enrollment and funds the basics for Alabama’s K-12 schools, would increase from $4 billion this year to $4.2 billion under the proposal.

Classroom instructional support mostly stays the same:

• Materials and supplies, up from $700 to $900 per classroom teacher,
• Technology allocation remains at $500 per classroom teacher,
• Teacher training allocation stays the same at $100 per teacher,
• Library enhancement funding remains at $157.72 per teacher.

Textbook funding also would remain the same, at $75 per student.

School transportation funding, traditionally an underfunded area, would increase from $380 million to $406 million.

Alabama’s nationally-recognized First Class Pre-K program would receive $174 million under the budget proposal, up from $151 million this year. The additional funding would add 125 classrooms and bring enrollment of eligible four-year-olds statewide from 42% to 45%, according to the Alabama School Readiness Alliance.

Alabama’s statewide specialty schools, which teach fine arts, math and cyber technology, will receive between a 6% and 15% increase in funding.

Community colleges will see an overall 8% increase in funding, and four-year colleges and universities will see an overall 9% increase.

Funding for K-12 school nurses would increase from $40.6 million to $49.6 million. Mackey said it would take $90 million to fully staff schools statewide with nurses.

The current budget has a $95 million line item, the “Teacher Stabilization Fund,” to help schools that saw student enrollment decline from the 2019-20 school year to the 2020-21 school year keep funding for teacher jobs. That line item is omitted from the FY23 budget proposal.

While some schools saw enrollment rebound for the current school year, some saw a continued decline. It’s unclear what impact that may have on teacher jobs in the coming year.

Lawmakers added $30 million in funding for the incentive programs for math and science teachers, going from $50 million this year to $80 million next year. Statewide, just under 1,400 teachers signed up to receive the higher pay. Another 1,000 applications are pending according to the department of education.

Plans to increase funding for existing programs include:

• $20 million more for the Alabama Innovation Corporation, up from $4 million this year.
• $15 million more for the Alabama Math Science and Technology Initiative, up from $30 million this year,
• $10 million more for pre-K special education, up from $17 million this year,
• $5 million more for career coaches, up from $1.7 million this year,
• $18 million more, doubling the funding for the Department of Human Resources’ Jobs Child Care and After School Child Care and Family Services Program, and
• $7 million more to improve cybersecurity for K-12 data and infrastructure.

The House committee added a few new items aimed at specific initiatives, including the following:

• $15 million for the Alabama Numeracy Act, which would beef up math instruction in early grades. The bill was approved by the Senate and is in the House Education Policy committee.
• $4.5 million for a teacher recruitment program for STEM majors that will be managed by higher education.
• $5 million for the Governor’s Mathematics Education Coaching Corps, a pilot program which would provide math coaches for schools with kindergarten through fifth grade students.
• $5.5 million for a grant program to provide 150 teacher aides for kindergarten through third grade for underperforming schools
• $10 million for grants to the lowest performing elementary schools.
• $8.5 million for Special Education Certified Behavior Analysts, fully funding a request from the state department of education

The committee also considered and approved additional money for the Advancement and Technology Fund, as well as changes to how some of that fund’s money may be used.

The House will meet again on Tuesday at 2 p.m. A livestream of the discussion and subsequent vote is available at this link.

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