Opinion | The CHOOSE Act favors the few while leaving most behind

Come January, Alabama families will be able to apply for up to $7,000 in state funds to send their kids to private schools under the CHOOSE Act. On paper, it sounds like opportunity—a shiny promise of “school choice.” But for most Alabama families, that promise will fade the moment they try to cash it.

For families in struggling rural schools, $7,000 won’t get their kids through the doors of most private schools. Tuition alone can reach $15,000, not to mention books, fees, and transportation. Families living paycheck to paycheck can’t make up the difference, no matter how loudly lawmakers shout “freedom” and “opportunity.” So this program doesn’t deliver choice—it delivers a handout to families who already have choices.

Meanwhile, Alabama’s public schools—the schools that 90 percent of our children rely on—are left behind. And when those funds are siphoned out, who pays the price?

Picture a public school classroom in rural Alabama. The air conditioner hasn’t worked for weeks. The science textbooks still talk about Pluto as a planet, and students share a single outdated laptop because there aren’t enough to go around. Now imagine what happens when funding is pulled to subsidize private schools that aren’t required to serve these same children. Teachers leave. Class sizes grow. Programs disappear. That’s not competition—it’s abandonment.

The CHOOSE Act’s supporters would have you believe this is about improving education. But here’s the truth: Alabama ranks 42nd in the nation for per-student funding. And instead of solving that problem, we’re pulling even more money out of public education to funnel it to private schools—institutions that don’t have to accept every student, don’t have to provide services for children with disabilities, and don’t have to answer to the taxpayers footing the bill.

This isn’t hypothetical. States like Arizona and Florida have already gone down this road. In Arizona, the ESA program spiraled out of control, with costs exploding and funds overwhelmingly benefiting families who were already paying for private school. In Florida, voucher programs delivered millions of public dollars to private schools with minimal oversight and little to show for it.

Here’s a question Alabama families should be asking: If we have $7,000 to give every student, why aren’t we investing that money back into our public schools? That funding could mean smaller classes, better materials, competitive teacher salaries, and modern resources that lift all students—not just those who can afford private tuition.

Let’s be honest. Public schools aren’t failing Alabama’s children. Alabama’s leadership is failing public schools. The CHOOSE Act is another step toward privatization—a slow, deliberate undermining of the very system that educates the vast majority of our kids.

And when public schools are left to crumble, the damage doesn’t stop with today’s students. It echoes into the future—hurting Alabama’s workforce, economy, and competitiveness.

This isn’t school choice. It’s abandonment. It’s a betrayal of the promise that public education exists to give every child—not just a privileged few—a fair shot at success.

Our kids deserve better. All of them. Not just the few.