SB263 amends the Alabama Accountability Act to expand refundable tax-credit “scholarships” by raising the poverty threshold for lower-income parents and replacing the term “failing school” with “priority school.”
The Senate passed SB263 on May 24, 2023, by a vote of 26 to 7. We have assigned pluses to the nays because education is not the role of government. A child’s education is the responsibility of—and a fundamental right of choice retained by—his or her parents. Moreover, refundable tax credits mean that “eligible” families in Alabama with little or no tax liability are given government funds to pay for their child’s education. Educational freedom cannot be achieved by forcing other citizens to furnish their hard-earned taxpayer dollars for a compulsory, failing, and government-run K-12 school system.