State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) is optimistic that the school choice bill currently moving through the Legislature will eventually be passed and then signed by Gov. Kay Ivey.

The House Ways and Means and Education Committee delivered a favorable report Thursday, advancing the Creating Hope and Opportunity for Student Education (CHOOSE) Act. A vote is expected to take place in the House next week.

Orr, who is co-authoring the bill with state Rep. Danny Garrett (R-Trussville), discussed the progress Friday on WVNN's “The Dale Jackson Show.”

“The bill is 98% passed in the first round of House committees and probably the full House, and we'll see if the last 2% passes in the Senate.”

The senator outlined some of the changes already made to the House legislation.

He said, “The changes that people in the education community recommended were, for example…testing, making test results public. There were testing requirements there, nationally standardized testing. Schools in Alabama… It doesn’t have to be an ACAP (Alabama State Test) because it doesn’t use a curriculum or a syllabus, it’s built to help parents assess the academic performance of their schools.”

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Orr acknowledged that the Alabama Education Association (AEA) has some influence on the bill's content.

“I think what you're looking at is some kind of collaboration,” he said. “Now do they support this bill? No. But have they put guardrails in there and done a little bit of transparency and accountability? Yes, I hope it's a big deal on the House floor next week.” That's why I don't think we'll see a major floor fight.”

The lawmaker reiterated that while some details still need to be worked out before the bill passes the Senate, he still believes it will pass.

“I think we need to deal with the remaining 2-3% coming forward,” he said. “I don't think it will be taken up in the House. It will have to be debated and considered in the Senate. But even if that is the case, I don't see any major problems with the bill going forward.”

Yaffee is a contributor to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee