Mothers utilizing the Please select ACT program, part of the 2024 Student Education Act, are encouraging others to join after witnessing its positive effects on children’s education.
Breauna McDade, from Montgomery, expressed satisfaction with the local education system but emphasizes her desire for her children to attend schools that reinforce the values taught at home.
“I’ll do it,” she mentioned, noting that the process mainly involves filling out paperwork. “The most challenging part is probably the five-minute application. Just think about the benefits for your child that we didn’t have growing up.”
After being approved for the program, McDade enrolled her son Kamarrion at Valiant Cross Academy, where her other son, Kamerrin, is already attending, thanks to Alabama’s accountability law.
Governor Kay Ivey praised McDade’s decision to use an Educational Savings Account (ESA).
“The Choice Act supports thousands of Alabama families across our state, like McDade’s,” Ivey stated.
McDade aims to send all her boys to the Valiant Cross for a quality education and personal growth.
Related: Selection with ACT approves nearly 24,000 students. Most are already in private or homeschool.
The program offers a refundable income tax credit, recognized as an educational savings account, to assist eligible K-12 students in Alabama. This ESA can help cover tuition, fees, and other eligible educational expenses at approved Education Service Providers (ESPS) in Alabama.
Initiated by Ivey in March 2024, the program is expected to grow, becoming available for all students by the 2027-28 academic year, having already received over 22,000 applications in its first cycle, approving more than 23,000 students, and distributing $124 million in ESA funding.
Since its application opened in January 2025, students across the state have shown strong interest, with a total of 36,873 applications submitted.
This year alone, students from various grades have applied for funding, with over 23,000 approvals reported by the Alabama Department of Revenue (ALDOR), which oversees the program.
The total funding so far amounts to more than $124 million from the ESA, greatly benefitting Alabama families and their educational choices.
For more information, visit www.chooseact.alabama.gov for parent guides, program FAQs, and lists of approved educational service providers. The application process for the 2026-2027 academic year will begin in January 2026.
