Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey pledged support to give teachers and other state employees paid parental leave during her her annual State of the State address Tuesday evening.

She also said that school choice, reading and math initiatives and school cell phone bans are top priorities this year.

“We are, in fact, not just a football state,” Gov. Kay Ivey told the crowd, noting the state’s recent climb up the national rankings in reading and math. “Alabama is an education state.”

Last year, a bipartisan effort to give teachers paid maternity leave gathered steam, but failed to gain passage through both houses. Currently, public school educators must build up a bank of sick leave days or take unpaid leave to care for a newborn or adopted child. Public school teachers generally are given 10 sick days each year.

Follow more coverage of the Alabama legislature here.

A new bill has not yet been filed for the 2025 session. The Alabama Education Association and Rep. Ginny Shaver, who sponsored a 2024 bill, both stated support for the initiative Tuesday evening, according to the Alabama Reflector.

School funding overhaul

Alabama has invested more than half a billion dollars toward reading and math reforms since Ivey signed the Literacy Act in 2019 and the Numeracy Act in 2022, which leaders have credited for the historic gains. The governor pledged to raise national test scores when she took office in 2017.

Ivey did not publicly share her stance on a possible overhaul of the state’s school funding formula, which aims to target more money toward high-need schools. But she said she will continue to champion current reading and math efforts, as well as the state’s Turnaround Initiative, which has focused $10 million yearly on 15 struggling schools.

State Superintendent Eric Mackey told the Capitol Journal Tuesday evening that he felt state education leaders, the governor and the legislature have never been more aligned on education priorities than they are now.

“She’s done a lot of work, and it’s good to see it all come to fruition,” he said.

School choice initiatives

Ivey also praised the state’s new, $100 million school choice program, the CHOOSE Act, which provides eligible families with up to $7,000 in education savings accounts to be used for private school tuition.

A month after applications opened, 18,000 students have applied for the grants from every county in the state, Ivey said. The program currently is limited to specific groups of students, but will open up to all students by 2027.

Just under 200 private schools and two public schools have been approved to participate in the program as of Feb. 4.

“Beginning next school year, these ESAs will give more Alabama families greater flexibility in choosing an education that suits their child’s individual needs,” she said. “Importantly, we are funding students, not systems.”

More education legislation

Ivey, a Republican, pledged to back other hard-lined conservative legislation, including an effort to include the Ten Commandments in schools and a controversial “What is a Woman” bill.

But she also voiced her support for several bipartisan bills, including:

• Several bills to ban cell phones in schools
• Legislation to require local school boards to adopt Internet safety policies and train students on how to use social media wisely

Democrats, in response to Ivey’s address, unveiled a “Path to Freedom” plan, which included several education priorities.

Rep. Ontario Tillman, D-Bessemer, said the party wants to increase student achievement and investments in public education, including more pay for teachers and student teachers, as well as more programs focused on mentorship, anti-bullying, mental health and violence prevention.

He also criticized Republican-led efforts last year to ban diversity, equity and inclusion programs last year, and said the party will work to repeal those laws.

“Alabama cannot afford to go backwards,” he said. “We refuse to yield the progress we have made, and we must be honest about our shortcomings.”