Alabama is increasing its state spending with higher education and general fund budgets, which Gov. Kay Ivey signed into law Monday.

In an announcement Monday, Ivey praised lawmakers for increasing investments in literacy and numeracy efforts, as well as nearly doubling funding for the CHOOSE Act, a new program that gives families tax credits to spend on private education.

“These historic investments in core functions of government and our students’ education are possible through our track-record of conservative budgeting and strong leadership,” Ivey said in a news release Monday.

Ivey has signed a record $12.1 billion education package, which includes $375 million for high-needs schools.

The governor also approved a $3.7 billion General Fund budget, which supports Medicaid, prisons, state troopers, courts and other non-education agencies. That’s up 10%, or about $350 million, from last year.

Education funding is up by 6% – the highest amount that the legislature can spend this year. The full $12.1 billion education package is made up of four buckets:

• $9.9 billion to the main education budget, called the Education Trust Fund, which supports higher education and K-12 funding,
• $1.25 billion for the Advancement and Technology fund, which will include a new $100 million career tech effort,
• $524 million in supplemental funds, and
• $455 million to the Educational Opportunities Reserve Fund to support the CHOOSE Act and a new public school funding formula.

Alabama’s new school funding program, called the RAISE Act, will take effect this fall. The legislature plans to send $375 million to pre-pay the program for three years.

Under the program, school districts could get hundreds of dollars more per student, totaling as much as $11 million in additional funding, to support students with different learning needs.

By the 2025-26 school year, the RAISE Act would add:

• $68 million for high-poverty schools, an increase of $37 million
• $49 million in new funding for special education
• $33 million for English learners, an increase of $17 million
• $12 million for gifted students, an increase of $1.3 million
• $1.2 million in new funding for charter schools

Education advocates and researchers said the investments would boost student outcomes – especially in poorly funded districts – while others called the session “one of the best on record” for teachers and other education workers.

The state Board of Education recently approved a $32,500 raise for the state superintendent, Eric Mackey.

Teachers will not get a raise this year, but many education employees will now be eligible for workers’ compensation and parental leave benefits. Lawmakers also are covering recent rate increases to PEEHIP, the health insurance program, so educators don’t have to front those costs.

“When we started this session, if someone would have told me that we would have PEEHIP fully funded, parental leave and a new workers’ comp program for Alabama educators, I would have never thought it was possible,” Amy Marlowe, president of the Alabama Education Association, told AL.com after the House passed the education budget.

You can view spreadsheets of the ETF and General Fund budgets here.

During the 2025 legislative session, Ivey also has signed into law bills related to guns, gender terminology and independent pharmacies, as well as local bills.