Gov. Ivey signs Education Trust Fund into law - WSFA

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - Gov. Kay Ivey signed the $8.1 billion Education Trust Fund budget into law Thursday.

The budget includes pay increases for educators. Teachers with nine or more years of experience would get raises ranging from 5% to nearly 21% for those with 35 years of classroom experience.

“Here in Alabama, we are renewing our focus on the basics, and that is teaching core instruction to our students. This year’s historic Education Trust Fund wisely targets our dollars to accomplish this mission,” Ivey said.

Ivey also signed three bills affecting loan repayment awards for Alabama Science and Math teachers and the state’s literacy act.

House Bill 435, sponsored by Rep. Rich Wingo, R – HD62 deals with the Math and Science Teacher Education Program. The bill increases the cap for the loan repayment award for qualified math and science teachers.

“Having effective teachers is absolutely vital for our students to have a quality education,” Ivey said. “We are nearly doubling the amount of funding available for our math and science teachers to repay their loans. Alabama is taking major strides to ensure we can attract and retain good teachers, especially in areas like math and science. Alabama is getting back to the basics when it comes to our student’s educational journeys, and I am proud that we are taking the right steps to achieve success for our students.”

Senate Bill 200 pushes back the reading retention requirement until the 2024-25 school year. Third graders who don’t meet certain requirements that school year could be held back. House Bill 220 gives more responsibility to the Literacy Act task force. The task force provides “recommendations for comprehensive core reading and reading intervention programs.”

“We are making crystal clear that unlike what we are seeing in some other states around the country, Alabama is focusing on core instruction, and that means ensuring our students are proficient in both reading and math,” Ivey said. “The Numeracy Act, which I signed into law recently and the Alabama Literacy Act are both ways to help our students. Our efforts to implement the Literacy Act are already underway, and by signing House Bill 220, we are solidifying that. And by signing Senate Bill 200, I am putting ink on the fact that there is absolutely no more delay to this process.”

Like the Numeracy Act, the Literacy Act is being slowly phased in.

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source: https://www.wsfa.com/2022/04/14/gov-ivey-signs-education-trust-fund-into-law/

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