Budget Watch: Alabama Legislature PASSES 2021 Education Trust Fund Budget

UPDATE

Saturday, May 9, 2020

The full Alabama Senate convened this morning to vote on the Senate version of the FY 2021 Education Trust Fund budget. The Senate unanimously passed the budget, the House concurred, and now it goes to Governor Ivey’s desk for signature. 

Both Governor Ivey and state legislators originally planned for a robust education budget for 2021 with an increase of over $411 million. However, the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic has required a more conservative projection. Many had predicted a “bare-bones” or flat budget for 2021, but the Legislature determined that a small increase (~1%) was possible. The final Education Trust Fund budget for 2021 contains a $91 million increase over the FY 2020 budget for a total appropriation of $7.2 Billion – this is now the largest education budget in the state’s history in actual dollars. 

A+ Education Partnership commends the House and Senate for their prudent approach to budgeting during a difficult economic time and for prioritizing critical supports for teachers and students. Click here to see the full budget spreadsheet.

Here are some important highlights of the final FY 2021 Education Trust Fund Budget:

TEACHER SUPPORT: 

TEACHER UNITS: This budget protects all state-funded teacher units, meaning that there will be no pink slips for teachers whose salaries are funded by the state.

TEACHER BENEFITS: This budget fully-funds teacher retirement and healthcare benefits. The Retirements Systems of Alabama (RSA), which administers these plans, has said there should not be a rate increase this year.

TEACHER RAISES: The budget does not include a raise for teachers. Governor Ivey and legislators had originally proposed a 3% raise for teachers prior to the COVID-19 downturn.

TEACHER MENTORING: There is a $1 million increase in the Alabama Teacher Mentoring Program to fund a second year of mentoring for new teachers.

THE ALABAMA LITERACY ACT:

The budget provides an additional $26.9 million to improve early literacy and support the implementation of the Alabama Literacy Act next year. This includes money for additional reading specialists and summer and after-school programs. In addition, it provides $9.8 million in the current year to support PK-3 teacher training in the science of reading (i.e., LETRS training). This money would cover the current waitlist of ~1,000 teachers and support areas with high needs.

STEM:

COMPUTER SCIENCE: The budget doubles funding for computer science teacher training from $1 million to $2 million to support the implementation of the 2019 Computer Science Bill that requires a high-quality computer science course in every AL K-12 school, beginning with high schools next school year.

ADVANCED PLACEMENT: The budget protects funding for Advanced Placement courses at a total of $7.4 million.

MATH: The budget allocates an additional $2.7 million in the current year towards regional math coaches and teacher training to support early math learning.

STEM COUNCIL: The budget also allocates $200,000 towards creating a STEM Council that will support and promote high-quality STEM education across the state.

ALABAMA’S FIRST CLASS PRE-K PROGRAM:

The final budget includes an additional $6 million for the First Class Pre-k program. The governor’s original budget included an increase of $25 million

STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH: 

This budget includes about $5.5 million for increased mental health services for students, including funding that will support the addition of one Mental Health Coordinator for every school district. 

ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS: 

The budget includes $6.8 million to support English Language Learners. This amount nearly doubles the allocation from the current year, FY 2020.


UPDATE

Friday, May 8, 2020

The Senate Finance & Taxation Education Committee met today, May 8, 2020, at 1 p.m. to consider their version of the FY 2021 Education Trust Fund budget. 

The Senate’s proposed budget included many of the same priorities as the version passed by the House of Representatives yesterday, including protecting state-funded teacher units, funding to implement the Alabama Literacy Act, increased funding for computer science training, and more. The Senate increased funding for Alabama’s First Class Pre-K program to a $4 million increase over the current year. The House had included a $3 million increase in its version.. It was unanimously approved by the committee and will go to the full Senate for a vote tomorrow, May 10, 2020. 

The full Senate will convene tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. to vote on this budget. Click here to watch the livestream.

We will be tuning in tomorrow morning for the final vote, and will report back here with updates. Follow along with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We will also continue sending our weekly education news round-up, The Gist, every Friday morning with updates from the previous week. Click here to sign up.

 


UPDATE

Thursday, May 7, 2020

The full Alabama House of Representatives passed the FY 2021 Education Trust Fund budget today, May 7, 2020. You can see more details about what is in this budget below. It now goes to the Alabama Senate for consideration. The Senate Finance & Taxation Education Committee will meet tomorrow, May 8, 2020, at 1 p.m. to vote on the budget. Click here to watch the meeting live

The full Senate could pass the FY 2021 Education Trust Fund budget as soon as Saturday, May 9, 2020. 

Additionally, the House passed the $1.25 billion bond issue for school construction today, after it passed the Alabama Senate on Monday, May 4, 2020. It now goes to Governor Ivey for signature. 

We will continue to update you with new information as it becomes available. Follow along with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We will also continue sending our weekly education news round-up, The Gist, every Friday morning with updates from the previous week. Click here to sign up.


UPDATE

Tuesday, May 5, 2020 at  5:00 p.m.

The House Ways and Means Education Budget Committee met today, Tuesday, May 5, 2020, to discuss their proposed budget. The current proposal for the FY 2021 budget includes a $91 million increase over the current year, FY 2020 (about a 1% increase). This is certainly lower than the $411 million increase proposed by Governor Ivey at the beginning of the legislative session, but better than the “bare-bones” budget many were expecting due to the COVID-19 economic downturn. The full House of Representatives intends to vote on the budget this Thursday, May 7, 2020, which means it will most likely not be voted on by the Senate until next week.

The committee stated that they wanted to pass a conservative budget to give local districts some certainty to plan for the next school year. This year’s budget increase proposed by the House of Representatives includes the following priorities: 

General funding for local school districts:

TEACHER UNITS: The budget would protect and maintain state-funded teacher units through the next school year, meaning there will be no pink slips for teachers whose salaries are funded by the state. 

ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS: The budget includes $6.8 million to support English Language Learners. This amount nearly doubles the allocation from the current year, FY 2020.

TEACHER RAISES: The budget does not include a raise for teachers. Governor Ivey and legislators had originally proposed a 3% raise for teachers this year.

Literacy:

The budget provides an additional $26.9 million to improve early literacy and support the implementation of the Alabama Literacy Act next year. This includes money for additional reading specialists and summer and after-school programs. In addition, it provides $9.8 million in the current year to support PK-3 teacher training in the science of reading (i.e., LETRS training). This money would cover the current waitlist of 1,000 teachers and support areas with high needs.

Computer Science, Math, and STEM Council:

COMPUTER SCIENCE: The budget doubles funding for computer science teacher training from $1 million to $2 million to support the implementation of the 2019 Computer Science Bill that requires a high-quality computer science course in every AL K-12 school, beginning with high schools next school year.

MATH: The budget allocates an additional $2.7 million towards regional math coaches and teacher training to support early math learning.

STEM COUNCIL: The budget also allocates $200,000 towards creating a STEM Council that will support and promote high-quality STEM education across the state.

Alabama’s First Class Pre-K Program:

The House budget includes an additional $3 million for the First Class Pre-k program. This will support the addition of approximately 25 new pre-K classrooms in the 2020-2021 school year. The governor’s original budget included an increase of $25 million. 

School Construction Bond Issue:

The House Ways and Means Education Committee approved SB 242, authorizing a $1.25 Billion bond issue for school construction. The full Senate unanimously passed the bill yesterday. It now goes to the full House of Representatives for final passage. Each K-12 district will receive a base amount plus more based on a formula that includes enrollment and some accommodation for rural districts with lower tax revenues. There was discussion among the committee about the need to provide a larger amount of support for districts with greater needs. We will see if there are any changes when the full House takes up the bill.

The Advancement and Technology Fund:

There is $520 million in excess funding from FY 2019 in the Advancement and Technology Fund. All of this funding would normally be transferred to local school districts and colleges for capital improvements, but the House committee is proposing to withhold half of that money to help shore up the Education Trust Fund budget if revenues are lower than expected due to the COVID-19 economic downturn. If they are not needed, the rest would be transferred to districts next year.

Student Mental Health:

This budget includes about $5 million for increased mental health services for students, including funding for one Mental Health Coordinator for every school district. 

We will continue to update you with new information as it becomes available. Follow along with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We will also continue sending our weekly education news round-up, The Gist, every Friday morning with updates from the previous week. Click here to sign up.

 


UPDATE

Tuesday, May 5, 2020 at 9:00 a.m.

The Alabama Legislature reconvened on Monday, May 4, 2020, complete with face masks and social distancing. The public and lobbyists are also not allowed in the building.  

The Senate passed the $1.25 billion bond issue for school construction, which now goes to the House for consideration. The bond issue would fund construction and capital projects for all K-12 schools, community colleges and four-year institutions. Each K-12 district will receive a base amount of $400,000 plus another $850 million distributed on a formula basis that includes student enrollment. This would be the first large-scale bond issue for school construction since the $1 Billion package passed in 2007 under Governor Riley. 

Legislators are still working on passing the FY 2021 Education Trust Fund budget, however the original week-long timeline is looking tight. The House Ways and Means Education Committee is meeting today, May 5, 2020, at 2 pm to discuss the FY 2021 budget. You can watch the livestream of the meeting here

We will continue to update you with new information as it becomes available. Follow along with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We will also continue sending our weekly education news round-up, The Gist, every Friday morning with updates from the previous week. Click here to sign up.

 


UPDATE

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

On Tuesday, April 28, 2020, prior to resuming the 2020 Legislative Session, the Alabama Senate Finance & Taxation Education Committee held an informal meeting to discuss potential budgetary decisions for next year’s Education Trust Fund budget amid the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic concerns. Chairman Arthur Orr summarized the ongoing conversation between the House and Senate budget committees, which includes the list below. This was simply a preliminary discussion and all of these aspects are subject to change during negotiations. 

  • For next year’s education budget (FY 2021), legislators are discussing using the FY 2020 budget as a baseline with some increases. Senator Orr explained, “It will most likely be this year’s budget, plus some.” There had been discussion of level-funding or a bare-bones budget, but as of right now, it sounds like they are discussing some form of an increase. At the beginning of the session, the Governor and Legislature were estimating a $411 million budget increase, but the economic impact of COVID-19 has significantly reduced revenue projections.
  • The Legislature is still considering a $1.25 billion bond issue for school construction.
  • There is also $512 million in the Advancement and Technology Fund, which would normally be paid directly to school districts for capital projects. The Legislature is considering reducing the amount sent to districts in order to have a funding “cushion.” However, the smaller amount sent to districts could have fewer restrictions on how the funds can be spent. 
  • Earlier in the session, the Legislature was also planning to allocate over $30 million in supplemental funds, including support for teacher training in literacy and math. Senator Orr said they have not made any decisions about this allocation yet. 
  • No teacher pay raise is expected, given the new revenue projections. Governor Ivey had proposed a 3% pay raise in her State of the State Address.
  • Finally, there is $1 billion in reserves to help prevent any proration ($300 billion in the Budget Stabilization Fund and $700 million that can be borrowed from the Rainy Day Fund).

According to Senator Orr, the Legislature could complete this budget work in one week. In this scenario, the House Way & Means Education Committee would vote on Monday (May 4), the full House would vote on Tuesday, the Senate F&TE Committee would vote on Wednesday, the full Senate would vote on Thursday, and Friday would be left for any conference negotiations between the two houses. This schedule is certainly not set in stone, and is subject to change. 

As always, we will update you with more information as it comes available. Follow along with us on FacebookTwitterInstagram, or LinkedIn. We will also continue sending our weekly education news round-up, The Gist, every Friday morning with updates from the previous week. Click here to sign up.