Ivey, Ledbetter go to court to try and allow voucher students to participate in athletics
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday asked a court to overturn a decision by a high school athletics association that blocks students on the state’s new school voucher program from participating in athletics their first year in a new school.
Ivey and House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter filed the complaint in Montgomery Circuit Court against the Alabama High School Athletic Association. They are asking a judge to block the association’s ruling on eligibility and pave the way for the students to participate in athletics this year.
The CHOOSE Act, which went into effect this school year, allows eligible families to tap up to $7,000 in state funding to help pay for private school or to transfer to a public school, and up to $2,000 for homeschooling expenses.
The association ruled that the act provides a type of financial aid. The organization said it has a longstanding rule that any student who transfers to a new school and receives financial aid “is ineligible for athletic participation for one year.”
“This policy, established by our member schools, promotes competitive equity and deters recruitment,” the organization wrote in a statement Thursday.
Ivey and Ledbetter said the CHOOSE Act was designed to have no such restriction on athletic participation. The two Republicans filed the court action shortly after the board refused to reverse its decision.
“We wrote and passed the CHOOSE Act to give every child a true choice in their education, and that very much includes participation in athletics,” Ivey said in a statement.
Ledbetter said he expects lawmakers “will take a hard look at how the AHSAA operates in the upcoming session.”
“For the AHSAA’s leadership to take such drastic action just as football season begins tells me they are not concerned with the best interests of all student-athletes,” Ledbetter said.
Alabama is among a number of states using vouchers, tax credits or scholarships to parents to help families pay for private school or education costs outside of the public school setting.
This school year, 23,429 students are participating in the CHOOSE Act program. More than half of them, or 14,587, are attending private schools, according to numbers from the Alabama Department of Revenue. A little more than 7,000 are being homeschooled and 1,442 students are in public schools.
The majority of families participating in the program were already enrolled in private school or were being homeschooled last year.
Eligibility is initially limited to families earning up to 300% of the federal poverty level, which is about $77,460 for a family of three. The income cap will go away in 2027, but lower-income families and families with students with disabilities will have priority for funds.
Nonprofit erases millions in medical debt across Gulf South, says it’s ‘Band-Aid’ for real issue
Undue Medical Debt has paid off more than $299 million in medical debts in Alabama. Now, the nonprofit warns that the issue could soon get worse.
Roy Wood Jr. on his father, his son and his new book
Actor, comedian and writer Roy Wood Jr. is out with a new book -- "The Man of Many Fathers: Life Lessons Disguised as a Memoir." He writes about his experience growing up in Birmingham, losing his dad as a teenager and all the lessons he learned from various father figures throughout his career.
Auburn fires coach Hugh Freeze following 12th loss in his last 15 SEC games
The 56-year-old Freeze failed to fix Auburn’s offensive issues in three years on the Plains, scoring 24 or fewer points in 17 of his 22 league games. He also ended up on the wrong end of too many close matchups, including twice this season thanks partly to questionable calls.
In a ‘disheartening’ era, the nation’s former top mining regulator speaks out
Joe Pizarchik, who led the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement from 2009 to 2017, says Alabama’s move in the wake of a fatal 2024 home explosion increases risks to residents living atop “gassy” coal mines.
‘It’s like feeling the arms of your creator just wrapped around you’: a visit to a special healing Shabbat
Members of Temple Emanu-El in Birmingham gathered recently for their traditional Friday Shabbat service. But this particular service was different, as could be seen by all the people dressed in their finest pink.
Space Command is coming to Huntsville. What might that mean for first-time homebuyers
While Huntsville has been a more affordable market than other growing cities, what’s it been like for those looking for their first home?
