On Wednesday, the Alabama House of Representatives approved a significant $12.1 billion Education Trust Fund (ETF) budget for the fiscal year 2026. This budget is aimed at increasing investments in public education, focusing particularly on school choices, targeted support for students, and new benefits for educators.
The package includes SB112 and its supplementary budget, which will be sent back to the Senate for further approval. Once the Senate consents, it will go to Governor Kay Ivey for her signature.
“As Alabama makes strides in public education, it’s crucial for lawmakers in Montgomery to ensure that school systems have the necessary resources for student success,” noted an official.
This year’s ETF is significant for several reasons. It broadens parental leave for teachers, expands after-school programs, and boosts funding for Alabama’s numerical law, a key factor in enhancing state-driven benefits for fourth-grade math. Importantly, funding will be based on specific needs of schools rather than on staffing numbers.
The House-endorsed plan includes an $80 million raise in Alabama’s Education Savings Account (ESA) initiative under the Choice Act, bringing total funding to $180 million. This allows qualifying families to spend up to $7,000 per child for tuition and associated costs at private or out-of-district public schools. Families homeschooling children may access up to $2,000 per child, capped at $4,000 per household. Any unspent funds will revert to the Education Opportunity Reserve.
Furthermore, the budget allocates $58 million as part of the initial phase of the “Renewing Investments in Alabama Student Exception” (Salary Increase) Act. This innovative funding approach moves away from the traditional method, directing more resources to schools serving higher-needs populations, like low-income students, English learners, gifted students, and those requiring special education services.
In addition, lawmakers have approved a $27 million increase to enhance Alabama’s acknowledged benefits under the numerical law that aims to improve fourth-grade mathematics across the state. There’s also $14.4 million earmarked for expanding after-school and summer enrichment programs.
Support for educators features prominently in this budget as well. Lawmakers have set aside $9.6 million, along with $15.6 million for a new worker compensation program for school employees, and they’ve increased the state’s contribution to public education employee health insurance from $800 to $904 per employee.
Chairman of the House Ways and Means Education Committee, Danny Garrett (R-Trussville), mentioned that this budget signifies a transformative shift in public education funding in the state.
“For the first time, we are moving away from a one-size-fits-all funding method, focusing instead on the needs of specific students,” Garrett remarked. There’s a notable investment in programs that support both teachers and students. With public education on an upward trajectory in Alabama, passing this budget could help sustain that momentum.
To address specific capital needs, the budget plans to withdraw $1.25 billion from the Advancement and Technology Fund for improvements and the new Career Technology Education Center. Of this amount, $100 million will be distributed via a competitive grant process for local technical education hubs, requiring collaboration across school districts with a matching local contributions scale.
Unlike previous years, this budget does not propose teacher salary increases. Lawmakers indicate that this choice reflects a strategy focused on enhancing healthcare and better benefits to support educators over the long haul.
The Senate is anticipated to approve the ETF budgets soon, which would position Alabama to implement one of its most ambitious educational funding plans to date.
