[ad_1]
The budget has been stalled by tensions between the House and Senate.
After being in limbo for much of the week, the Alabama Legislature on Thursday finally approved the 2025 Education Trust Fund budget and a large supplemental appropriation for the current fiscal year.
The budget proposal was released at a joint committee meeting earlier this week, but final approval has been stalled by tensions between the House and Senate over the pace of bill approval.
The $9.3 billion education budget, the largest in nominal terms in state history, includes a 2 percent teacher pay raise. It also includes increases for local school boards and many education initiatives, including the Alabama Reading Project and the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative.
The conference committee report would transfer $1.5 million for school safety assessments, mapping and grants from the Alabama Department of Education to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency in the main budget bill, HB 145. Senate Finance and Taxation Committee Chairman Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, paused those provisions Thursday to work on language changes in the legislation.
“There is no currency exchange,” he said.
The ETF also includes:
Local school board funding will increase by $185.4 million, from $5.125 billion to $5.3104 billion. The pay raise includes a $24 million increase in school nurse costs, from $65.5 million to $89.5 million.
The Alabama Department of Education saw an increase of $173.1 million, from $534.7 million to $707.8 million, with most of that reflecting increases in individual program funding.
The Alabama Community College System is increasing by $35.6 million, from $551.3 million to $586.9 million.
Increases to the Department of Education include a $48.6 million (51.5 percent) increase to the Alabama Reading Initiative, from $94.2 million to $142.8 million, and a $30.6 million (41.8 percent) increase to the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative, from $73.2 million to $103.9 million.
The budget took effect on October 1.
HB 144 adds an additional $651.2 million to the current education budget. Those allocations include $50 million for the Choice Act, a voucher-like program that allows families to apply for up to $7,000 in tax credits per qualifying child for non-public education services, including private school tuition. The legislation also provides funding to K-12 schools and colleges and universities, primarily for construction projects and one-time expenses.
Among other changes, the conference committee report adds $750,000 to the Presidential Leadership and Mentoring Act and $2 million to the community college system capital fund. The committee report also eliminates funding for the retiree education fund.
HB 147 appropriates a total of $1 billion from the Advancement and Technology Fund of the Education Trust Fund for one-time construction or technology improvements in K-12 schools and colleges and universities. The Committee report restores $2 million for teacher development training.
[ad_2]
Source link
