(Above: School choice changed the lives of Gloria McMeans and her son Keeynaad)
The Alabama Accountability Act, which was signed into law in March of 2013, allows students in chronically failing schools to transfer to a non-failing public or private school in their district and offers their parents tax credits to help cover the cost.
Passed over the the vocal dissent of the Alabama Education Association (AEA) and other members of the state’s education establishment, the bill was Alabama’s first ever school choice reform. Almost 800 students took advantage of the Accountability Act in its first semester by transferring out of their chronically failing school and into a better situation.
Advocates say the law has given hope to children who previously didn’t have access to a quality education. Critics say that it was a ploy by Republicans to take money out of public schools, although only 52 students transferred to a private school.
Polling suggests that voters in Alabama overwhelmingly support school choice, and as stories like the one you’re about to hear continue to spread, support will probably only increase.
(More after the photo)
Gloria McMeans had grown frustrated with her son Keeynaad’s experience in his Birmingham-area public school.
“If he didn’t do anything, he was going still get passed,” Ms. Means explained. “I was not willing to let my son go back to another school like that.”
So she started making sacrifices. Her and her son moved into a lower rent apartment complex so she could work toward saving enough money to send Keeynaad to private school. But some months, that wasn’t enough. She had to decide whether she would pay tuition or utilities.
But this year things changed. Thanks to the Alabama Accountability Act’s scholarship program, Ms. McMeans was able to send Keeynaad to a school where he is now thriving.
“When I saw this, you have no idea how it made me feel,” Ms. McMeans said holding her son’s scholarship letter. “Keeynaad — he has opportunity (now).”
And for perhaps the first time ever, Ms. McMeans is confident about her son’s future.
“He’s going to college,” she said. “University of Alabama!” Keeynaad interjected.
“I want him to be able to do and be whatever he chooses to be,” Ms. McMeans continued. “I don’t want him to have a limitation. If it’s out there and he feels like he can do it, I’m going to encourage him — whether it be president or senator, governor, doctor, lawyer, teacher. Whatever he feels like he wants to do, I’m going to encourage him. But I want him to be able to get the education so he can be able to do the things that he wants to do.”
Thanks to taxpayer-funded scholarships, that’s exactly what is happening the McMeans and other families around the state.
“It helps me keep my son out of prison, or helps keep my son out of the graveyard,” Ms. McMeans said.
The Alabama Policy Institute, a conservative think tank based in Birmingham, produced the video above to capture the McMeans’ story.
“We produced the video because it is a story that needs to be told,” Alabama Policy Institute vice president and general counsel Cameron Smith told Yellowhammer. “More importantly it should be told by real people impacted by the law. We simply took our cameras to Gloria’s home and asked her to talk about what receiving a tax credit scholarship meant to her and her son.”
Smith said that he and other conservatives around the state are more inspired than ever to overcome the opposition to reforms in the state’s education system.
“The focus of Alabama’s public education should be on the students. Period,” he said. “Alabama’s public education system has many bright spots and schools that are doing well, but we also have room to grow, improve, and better serve parents and children. Flexibility for public schools, tax credits, and scholarships are important steps to improving Alabama’s public education and they are possible because of the Alabama Accountability Act. We can continue to improve the law based on our experience, but we should reject the argument that imperfections in education alternatives mean that we should change nothing.”
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
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