Senate approves $9.3 billion education budget; must resolve differences with House

The Alabama Senate unanimously passed a $9.3 billion education budget package Thursday with little debate, but there will be debate between the two chambers as the House voted not to agree to the changes pending in the Senate applied.

One of the most notable changes passed in the Senate is the addition of $10 million in funding to administer an EBT summer food program, which hunger advocates have called on the Senate to include in the budget as it could generate up to $100 million in federal government spending. funding to feed children through the summer of 2025.

Rep. Laura Hall, D-Birmingham, proposed an amendment in the House of Representatives to add $13 million to fund the program. But education budget chairman Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, said he believed more study needed to be done on how the state would administer the program and asked the House to table the amendment.

The Senate also restored some funding for the Alabama Public Library Service. The House budget took $750,000 away from the state agency and gave $250,000 to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library and $500,000 to Better Basics, a program that provides literacy and math interventions primarily in Central Alabama. The cut represents 18 percent of the agency’s operating budget.

The Senate voted to give APLS $350,000 more than the House proposal.

The total budget is a 6.8 percent increase over last year, amounting to an additional $550 million. The budget includes pay increases for teachers and increased allocations for most departments and agencies, in addition to APLS.

The starting salary for new teachers will see a significant increase in the budget to $47,600, the highest among states in the region. Gov. Kay Ivey made it a priority of hers to increase starting salaries to address the state’s teacher shortage. The increase is expected to cost the state $104 million.

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Teachers would also get a 2 percent raise across the board, something Ivey has pushed for throughout her tenure. Teachers have already seen a cumulative pay increase of 15 percent since Ivey took office.

The budget sets aside $11 million to fund an additional 200 principals and assistant principals across the state. Currently, a school must have 500 students to access state support for hiring school principals; the budget would reduce that to 300 students.

Lawmakers increased the proposed release of funds from the Advancement and Technology Fund – Ivey proposed $700 million, lawmakers allocated $1 billion from the fund. Of that money, $726.3 million would go to primary and secondary education and the remaining $273.3 million to higher education.

An additional $651 million appropriation included $20 million to fund the Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences in Demopolis.

Other highlights of the supplemental bill include $20 million for new statehouse construction, $50 million to fund education savings accounts under the new CHOOSE Act, and $40 million for a grant program for community colleges.