Alabama Governor Kay Ivey is praising the Republican Party for adding “universal school-choice” to it’s official policy platform at the 2024 Republican National Convention. The platform calls for expanding parental rights and school choice, promoting career training and “patriotic” civics education, and beefing up student discipline.
The Associated Press reported on the news and asked “What would that mean for students?”
“The term can mean different things to different people,” the report said, “from erasing school boundaries, to open enrollment, to being able to curate your child’s individual curriculum, to parental control over K-12 course content.”
Ivey reacted to the report on social media saying, “It means EVERY student — no matter the zip code, no matter the school — receives a quality education. #alpolitics”
It means EVERY student — no matter the zip code, no matter the school — receives a quality education. #alpolitics https://t.co/l77jjk0sDY
— Governor Kay Ivey (@GovernorKayIvey) July 17, 2024
Ivey led the effort during the 2024 legislative session to pass expansions to school-choice in the Yellowhammer State. The governor signed the CHOOSE Act earlier this year, which creates $7,000 ESAs for eligible students to use toward education expenses beginning in 2025-26 school year. It will be available to all students by the 2027-28 school year.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee spoke also promoted school choice this week during a speech at the RNC Tuesday.
“They attacked parental rights,” Lee said. “Republican Governors fought back for a parents’ right to choose their own child’s education. President Trump was right when he said that school choice is the civil rights issue of our time.”
As President @realDonaldTrump said, school choice is the civil rights issue of our time.
It’s time we empower parents by making education freedom a reality for every TN family, regardless of zip code or income. https://t.co/lkGwEiczAI
— Gov. Bill Lee (@GovBillLee) July 17, 2024
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee
