Former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones (D-Mountain Brook), who is currently the Democratic nominee for Alabama Governor, is doubling down on his call to “phase out” the state’s school choice program.
“At a minimum, I want to stop the CHOOSE Act in its tracks,” Jones said during a live Q&A broadcast on social media Sunday evening. “Do not lift the caps, but also don’t take any new kids, don’t open [the cap] next year, and either phase it out or try to make some adjustments on it. I am not a fan of it.”
Ask Doug Live! | 8.9 https://t.co/o0uhqTM26l
— Doug Jones (@DougJones) August 9, 2026
Under the CHOOSE Act, students enrolled in participating schools are eligible to receive $7,000 each, while students enrolled in home education programs qualify for $2,000 each, up to a maximum of $4,000 per family.
More than 34,000 Alabama students have been approved for the education savings account funding, as the CHOOSE Act program is fully funded for the 2026-27 school year.
“The CHOOSE Act was an ill-conceived act. I do not like the fact that taxpayer dollars are going over into private schools,” Jones continued. “Private schools that, by the way, have no real accountability.”
School choice has been an issue where Jones has taken the opposite position than U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn).
“We’re going to have the better education, that the the to be able to choose the school you want to go to,” Tuberville said. “To me, that’s an American idea, and that is freedom of speech. That’s freedom of doing what you want to. I used to tell all my players that listen, this country doesn’t owe you anything other than opportunity, and that opportunity is to have an education, especially where you feel like you fit in. And so, I am all for the having an opportunity. Kids go to the school that they want to go to, but there’s so many things that we have to do in our state to get us get us on track.”
Jones believes the program is just a gift to those students who were already enrolled in private schools.
“We’re fixing to lift the income caps. A significant portion of the kids and parents that are taking advantage of the CHOOSE Act were already in private school before it passed,” Jones argued. “So we’ve just given them a handout now. That’s not all of them, but it is some.”
He is also taking the position that any new spending on education should go back into the public school system.
“If we start spending, taking more money than we’re already taking, we’re going to destroy public schools,” he said. “And I am a local school advocate, and I want to keep money in there.”
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
