Alabama House Ways and Means Education Committee Chairman, State Rep. Danny Garrett (R-Trussville), said Tuesday in an interview with “The Rightside” in partnership with Yellowhammer News that Alabama school choice represents a modest investment relative to the state’s total education spending — and reflects a broader shift toward giving Alabama families more options.
Garrett pushed back on claims that the CHOOSE Act is draining resources from public education, putting the $100 million school choice allocation in perspective against Alabama’s $10.9 billion education budget.
“If I gave you $50,000 and said, give me $600 back — that’s the magnitude of the $100 million we’re putting towards school choice in terms of what the education community receives,” Garrett said. “So it’s not the big focus. It should not be the focus.”
Garrett was responding to a recent opinion piece article in which a North Alabama superintendent claimed school choice was costing his system hundreds of millions of dollars. Garrett dismissed the figure as mathematically unsound.
“I think somebody needs some remedial math,” Garrett said.
The chairman said school choice reflects how Alabamians live and what they expect from public institutions.
“Everybody in life today wants customization, flexibility and choice in every aspect of our life, and yet we have this education box,” Garrett said. “Open that school choice door — it opens the door to customization, flexibility and choice, which needs to happen in public education.”
Garrett said the legislature has had to step in on basic reforms that should have come from within school systems, including cell phone bans, third-grade reading requirements, and discipline authority for teachers.
“Why did it take legislation to say you can’t have cell phones in the classroom? Why did it take legislation to say you can’t pass third grade if you can’t read?” Garrett said. “There’s a lot of things a public education system can do.”
On funding, Garrett said school choice is financed responsibly from excess revenue growth rather than by cutting public school budgets.
“We decided to limit our budget growth, and the money that we get in excess of that goes into a waterfall,” Garrett said. “That’s how we’re funding school choice. That’s how we’re funding the Raise Act.”
Alabama’s fiscal year 2027 Education Trust Fund budget totals $10.9 billion including supplemental appropriations.
Tuesday was day 23 of the legislative session. There are seven legislative days remaining.
Sawyer Knowles is a capitol reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at [email protected].
