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Gov. Kay Ivey announced Thursday that the application portal for the CHOOSE Act, the state’s new Education Savings Account (ESA) program, is now open.

The ESA program supports the success of K-12 students across the state, according to Ivey.

Ivey said families in Alabama can start the new year with a great opportunity for school choice in their communities and by doing so with the CHOOSE Act, she said it will help our Alabama students receive the highest-quality education possible by giving greater flexibility to families to pursue educational options that meet their individual needs.

“It is a wonderful opportunity to make the future of Alabama stronger than ever,” Ivey said.

The CHOOSE Act is actively managed by The Alabama Department of Revenue and was signed into law by Kay Ivey in March last year, which provides ESAs  to eligible K-12 students to help pay for school tuition, tutoring educational therapies and other qualified education expenses at approved education service providers (ESP) across the state, according to a statement from the Office of Governor Kay Ivey.

Senator Robert Stewart said when the bill for The CHOOSE Act had to be voted on last year, he said he voted against it because he felt like the approved opportunity wasn’t equal to all school systems all across the board, only private schools.

“If you are going to have an opportunity for school choice, there needs to be an equal playing field. Private schools need to be held to the same accountability and scrutiny standards as public schools. Further, I just believe that we shouldn’t be using public funds to support private schools. Public schools need to be strengthened and more investment needs to be made in K-12 public education more than ever.”

Stewart said he made the choice to not support the Act  because he feels public schools are a public good and that they benefit communities and said the effect of keeping public schools and public education around will do more good than harm to the school system.

“When we have strong public schools, they create pathways. Public schools, public education is a right.Really, it’s a fundamental right and we want to ensure that all children have pathways to success. That’s why public schools need to be viable, strong and sustainable. You can’t deny a child public education and that’s why they are critical. But, children can be denied from private schools.

Like Stewart, Dr. Tonya Chestnut, who is a member of the State Board of Education, said that she is aware that the act is not a universal choice for all schools and said that it is geared strictly toward the funding of private schools, which leaves only certain students eligible for consideration.

Chestnut said that the act does not involve public schools or public education but said she understands the proposed intent of the act and said that is to give parents an option, but she just trusts that it will not negatively impact public education.

However, Kay Ivey said funding for eligible students will allot $7,000 per eligible student enrolled in a participating school and $2,000 per participating student enrolled in a home education program which includes an individual or group program, home school, co-op, and it is capped at $4,000 per family.

Families all over the state can now apply online for the 2025-2026 school year at the CHOOSE Act website. The application process will be open now until April 7, 2025 and families who are selected to take part in the program will be notified in May.

Ivey’s office said during the first year of the program, the first 500 ESAs will be awarded to participating students with special needs, with the second priority awards going to participating students who are dependents of active-duty service members enrolled in or assigned to a priority school.  The remaining ESAs will be awarded to participating students based on each family’s adjusted gross income that will not exceed 300 percent of the federal poverty level for the preceding tax year, like a family of four making less than $93,600.

Ivey’s office said once all qualified applicants are approved, students can begin using their ESA funds for approved expenses in July.

Families who are interested in the CHOOSE act and want to know more information, can visit chooseact.alabama.gov.