The 2025 Legislative Session: Which Education Bills Passed and Which Didn’t?

Written by: Sarah Waldinger, Policy Director

The 2025 Legislative Session: Which Education Bills Passed and Which Didn’t?

The 2025 Alabama Legislative Session ended this month and, as always, it was a big year for education in the state! During the session, many bills affecting Alabama’s schools were passed by the legislature.

Particularly, the Legislature passed the RAISE Act to modernize Alabama’s school funding formula. Read below to see our summary of the bill. A+ is excited about the commitment the legislature has made to students and teachers through the RAISE Act and the budget package.

Here’s a recap of what happened this session:

Bills that Became Law

Renewing Alabama’s Investment in Student Excellence (RAISE) Act (SB 305): The RAISE Act has been enacted and will go into effect for the 2025-2026 school year. This new law, championed by Senator Arthur Orr and Representative Danny Garrett, modernizes Alabama’s school funding formula by enhancing the existing Foundation Program to target student needs, such as special education, poverty, and English language learners. In the first year, the RAISE Act will provide additional funding to districts for the following student groups:

  • Students in Poverty: 2.25% ($169 per student)
  • Special Education Students: 2% for Tier 1 ($150 per student), 10% for Tier 2 ($754 per student), and 75% for Tier 3 ($5,660 per student)
  • English Language Learners: 7% for most LEAs, 10% for LEAs with concentrated ELL populations ($528 per student or $754 per student)
  • Gifted Students: 5% ($339 per student)
  • Charter School Students: 2% ($150 per student)

To read more about the RAISE Act, click here. To learn more about the RAISE Act formula calculations, click here, and to see a breakdown of funding by district shared with lawmakers, see this story.

A+ is excited for this first step in modernizing school funding and the impact it will have on our students.

2026 Education Budget Package: This year, the package includes over $12 billion for students, schools, and education pursuits in K-12 and higher education. Four bills made up the budget package this year:

More about the budget and individual line items for education can be found in our Budget Watch.

Freeing our Classrooms of Unnecessary Screens for Safety (FOCUS) Act (HB 166): Sponsored by Rep. Leigh Hulsey, this law prohibits students from using cell phones and other wireless electronic devices on public school property during the school day, and requires schools to teach students internet and social media safety. It goes into effect immediately. For an overview of the FOCUS Act, click here.

School Principal Leadership and Mentoring Act (SB 303):Sen. Arthur Orr sponsored an amendment to the School Principal Leadership and Mentoring Act of 2023. The 2023 law established a principal leadership development program, including professional learning opportunities to increase the effectiveness of our principals. It provides annual stipends for principals and assistant principals who complete the program’s requirements and additional stipends for. administrators in high poverty and hard-to-staff schools receive an additional stipend. This year, the law was amended to add administrators at Career and Technical Education buildings and narrow the definition of what qualifies as a hard-to-staff school, which decreased the number of administrators eligible for the additional stipend from 1,200 to 420. To learn more about the program, click here.

Alabama Public Employee Paid Parental Leave Act of 2025 (SB 199): Sponsored by Rep. Vivian Davis Figures, this law has been enacted and will go into effect on July 1. Under the law:

  • Female employees will receive eight weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, stillbirth, or miscarriage of her child.
  • Male employees will receive two weeks of paid parental leave in those same circumstances.
  • Adoptive parents of a child aged three or younger will also be eligible for parental leave – eight weeks for one parent and two weeks for the other at the choice of the parents, if both are eligible employees.

This includes eligible state employees, K-12 educators, and Alabama Community College System employees who have been working for 12 months or more. People on parental leave will receive 100% of their typical salary.

Public Education Employee Injury Compensation Program (SB 1): Sponsored by Sen. Sam Givhan, this law will provide compensation to full-time public education employees and bus drivers who are injured on the job. The law requires employees to notify their supervisors of injuries within five business days, and guarantees full salary and benefits for up to 90 business days.

Alabama Teacher Paperwork Streamlining Act (SB 280): Sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, this law requires the Alabama State Department of Education to develop a unified digital platform for consolidating and sharing documentation related to the Alabama Literacy Act, Alabama Numeracy Act, Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), and other educational programs. The goal is to decrease the amount of paperwork K-12 teachers need to complete.

Joint Interim Study Commission on Expanding Access to High-Quality Out-of-School Education Programs (HJR 100): Sponsored by Rep. Terri Collins, this joint resolution creates a commission that will study the quality and accessibility of summer and afterschool programs in Alabama, existing and potential funding structures, and options for expanding access.

Alabama Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Council (HB 365):  Sponsored by Rep. Terri Collins, this law creates a STEM Council within the Department of Workforce. The council will oversee the implementation of the STEM strategic plan, increase STEM awareness, and highlight STEM careers across the state.

Amendment to the Creating Hope and Opportunity for Our Student’s Education (CHOOSE) Act (HB 52): Rep. Danny Garrett sponsored an amendment to the CHOOSE Act. As you may remember, the CHOOSE Act of 2024 created education savings accounts (ESAs) for students enrolled in private schools and homeschool settings. ESAs can be used to pay for tuition, fees, and other education expenses. The amendment that passed this session authorized more funding for the CHOOSE Act, so more qualified families may receive funding. This includes potentially adding an additional $150 million each year that would be earmarked for students and families whose income is less than 300% of the federal poverty level. To read more, read this Alabama Daily News article.

Dual Enrollment and Diplomas:  There were several bills that passed this session that affect high school students and curriculum.

  • HB 102 – Rep. Jeana Ross’ dual enrollment bill expands course options for high school students by mandating that LEAs allow students to enroll in dual enrollment courses and that they provide high school credit to those who successfully complete the courses.
  • HB 266 – Rep. Matt Woods’ Restoring Educational Advancement of Completing High School (REACH) Act creates a nontraditional high school diploma option for students 17 years of age or older who withdraw from school through the Adult Education Division of the Alabama Community College System.
  • SB 196 – Sen. Arthur Orr’s Move on When Ready Act allows 11th and 12th grade high school students to enroll in a full-time course load at a public college while earning high school credit, at no cost to the student. To read more about the Act, click here.

Bills that Did Not Pass

While the following bills didn’t pass this session, we are looking forward to supporting them in 2026!

Three-Cueing (HB 9): Rep. Leigh Hulsey sponsored HB 9, a bill that would have prohibited schools from using three-cueing to teach reading in K-12 public schools. If passed next year, the bill will emphasize the importance of structured literacy strategies focused on phonics and decoding, rather than guessing. This curriculum requirement would help to strengthen the Alabama Literacy Act of 2019, which is aimed at improving reading proficiency for students through third grade.

Computer Science Graduation Requirement (HB 332): Rep. David Faulkner sponsored HB 332, a bill that would have added a computer science credit to high school graduation requirements by 2031. The bill would also expand the definition of “computer science” to include emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. The bill would expand the Computer Science for Alabama Act of 2019, which requires all public elementary schools to offer instruction in the basics of computer science and computational thinking.

Back to Posts