Title 16 — Title 16

(a) Beginning January 1, 2023, the department shall lead a working group to develop a School Turnaround Academy, to train principals and teacher leaders to specialize in evidence-based school turnaround strategies and practices. The department shall partner with national or state…

Review Panels; Comprehensive Evaluation Plan; Annual Report. (a) Beginning January 15, 2023, the Executive Committee of the Alabama STEM Council shall employ an external consultant to evaluate this chapter, the work of mathematics coaches, and the implementation and outcomes. The…

Rulemaking Authority. (a) The State Superintendent of Education, through the Office of Mathematics Improvement and other sections of the department, shall provide technical assistance to local education agencies in complying with this chapter. (b) The State Board of Education may…

Funds appropriated by the Legislature in support of this chapter shall be allocated to support all of the following: (1) The staff and operations of the Office of Mathematics Improvement, including the director and regional coordinators, professional learning activities, and admi…

For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings: (1) ALGEBRAIC REASONING. Recognizing and generalizing about patterns and relationships; representing patterns and relationships by analyzing structures of the patterns; and using mathematical…

(a) By July 4, 2022, the State Superintendent of Education shall convene an Elementary Mathematics Task Force to provide the State Superintendent of Education and the State Board of Education with vetted and approved recommendations for high quality, evidence-based comprehensive …

(a) There is created in the department an Office of Mathematics Improvement, that shall be formed by July 4, 2022. The State Superintendent of Education shall appoint a Director of the Office of Mathematics Improvement whose exclusive focus is K-5 mathematics. The director shall …

(a) Each K-5 teacher who is providing instruction in mathematics, with the full support of his or her principal, shall do all of the following: (1) Dedicate an average minimum of 60 minutes per day for Tier 1 mathematics instruction, for a minimum of 164 instructional hours per y…

(a)(1) A kindergarten student or incoming grades 1-5 student identified with a mathematics deficiency, or who demonstrates the signs of dyscalculia, shall be provided intensive mathematics interventions recommended by the Elementary Mathematics Task Force to address his or her sp…

(a)(1) Subject to the appropriations of the Legislature, every public K-5 school with a student population of less than 800 K-5 students shall be allocated one mathematics coach and every public K-5 school with a student population of 800 or more K-5 students shall be allocated t…

Schools; Annual Reports. (a) Beginning August 1, 2022, to facilitate improvement in mathematics achievement in public elementary schools, the department, through the Office of Mathematics Improvement, shall annually identify full support and limited support schools based on stude…

Camp. (a) Commencing with the summer after the 2022-2023 school year, each full support school shall provide the Alabama Mathematics Summer Achievement Program to all students in grades four and five identified with a mathematics deficiency. (b) The Alabama Mathematics Summer Ach…

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the School Principal Leadership and Mentoring Act. History: (Act 2023-340, §1.)

For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings: (1) ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL. An individual who is certified for the position of assistant principal, as prescribed by the board, and who is employed full-time by a local board of education as an …

(a)(1) A design team shall be appointed to develop the program. In selecting design team members, the superintendent may consult with professional associations that primarily serve school administrators, higher education partners, and others to facilitate a design team with exper…

Commencing with the 2023-2024 school year, the design team shall develop the program in three phases, with increasing complexity and accountability, and implemented in the following stages: (1) Commencing with the 2023-2024 school year, each school administrator shall develop a c…

(a) Any appropriation by the Legislature shall be used, in part, to fund salary supplements and related benefit costs for school administrators and other costs relating to the program. (b)(1) The department shall provide an annual supplement of up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000…

(a) The Legislature shall annually appropriate to the department an amount sufficient to cover the actual costs of developing and implementing the program including, but not limited to, the awarding of stipends and grants and the hiring of additional staff as necessary. Any appro…

(a) On or before the first legislative day of the 2025 Regular Session, the superintendent shall submit a report to the Legislature regarding the design and implementation status of the program. The report shall be submitted to the Chairs of the Senate Finance and Taxation Educat…

This chapter shall be known as the Creating Hope and Opportunity for Our Students’ Education Act of 2024, or the CHOOSE Act. History: (Act 2024-21, §1.)

As used in this chapter, unless otherwise specified or unless the context requires otherwise, the following terms have the following meanings: (1) ACADEMIC YEAR. The 12-month period beginning on July 1 and ending on the following June 30. (2) DEPARTMENT. The Alabama Department of…

(a) To offset the cost of qualifying educational expenses, there is established a refundable income tax credit subject to this chapter and to the availability of monies in the CHOOSE Act Fund established pursuant to Section 16-6J-8. (b)(1) For the years beginning on January 1, 20…

(a) To participate in the program, a parent of an eligible student must do all of the following: (1) Submit to the department any information required by the department for implementation of the program, including the name of the eligible student. (2) Agree to claim the credit on…

(a) To be approved by the department, an education service provider must do all of the following: (1) Submit to the department any information required by the department for implementation of the program, including its address, contact information, and a summary of each program o…

Rulemaking Authority. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that educational savings accounts be made available to parents of participating students beginning with the 2025-2026 academic year. (b) The department shall administer the program with respect to parents of eligible s…

(a) To identify fraud or other potential misuse of program funds, the department shall do both of the following: (1) Conduct random financial audits of ESAs and education service providers, including participating schools. The random financial audits shall be conducted with suffi…

(a)(1) The CHOOSE Act Fund is created in the State Treasury for the purpose of providing funding for the tax credits authorized by this chapter. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the Legislature shall appropriate not less than one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) to …

If any part of this chapter is challenged as violating either the state or federal constitutions, parents of eligible students and participating students shall be permitted to intervene as of right in the lawsuit for the purposes of defending the constitutionality of the program.…

There is hereby created an agency to be known as the Alabama Educational Television Commission, hereinafter called the commission. History: (Acts 1953, No. 81, p. 124, §1.)

The commission shall consist of seven members, one from each of the congressional districts in the state as they are constituted on the 15th day of January, 1980. The members shall be residents and qualified electors of the State of Alabama. No member of the commission shall hold…

(a) No member of the commission shall have any financial interest in any facilities such as the commission is authorized to deal with. (b) Members of the commission may be removed from office upon impeachment on the grounds and in the manner prescribed in Section 173 of the Const…

Promptly after their appointment the commissioners shall meet to organize. At such meeting they shall choose from their number a president, a secretary and such other officers as they deem necessary. Thereafter officers shall be elected annually. The commission shall adopt rules …

The commission is organized for the purpose of making the benefits of educational television available to and promoting its use by inhabitants of Alabama, and to this end it is hereby empowered and directed to survey, study and appraise the need for an overall plan for the use of…

The commission is hereby authorized to execute all contracts and other instruments necessary and convenient to carry out the mandates of this chapter. It may accept gifts or grants of money or property, real or personal, and voluntary and uncompensated services from any person, f…

There is hereby created the Alabama Educational Television Foundation Authority which shall be a public non-profit corporation consisting of 13 members who shall be appointed by the Alabama Educational Television Commission. Such authority members shall include: one member from e…

Members of the authority shall be appointed for four-year terms. Commencing on August 1, 2009, members appointed to the authority who are also members of the Alabama Educational Television Commission shall be appointed to a term on the authority that is concurrent in duration wit…

The members of the authority shall elect officers from among themselves and shall meet at the call of the president or upon the call of four or more members. History: (Acts 1982, 2nd Ex. Sess., No. 82-786, p. 289, §3.)

(a) The authority shall receive, invest, and expend donated moneys for educational and eleemosynary purposes, related to the promotion, development, and growth of educational and public broadcasting and television in Alabama. The authority, through its director, may expend a reas…

Etc. The activities of the authority shall not include, directly or indirectly, the carrying on of propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation or engaging in political campaigns. History: (Acts 1982, 2nd Ex. Sess., No. 82-786, p. 289, §5.)

In the event of dissolution, the residual assets of the authority shall be turned over to another public corporation or organization which is itself exempt from federal income tax as an organization described in Section 501(c)(3) and Section 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of…

Body. It is the express intent of the Alabama Legislature that the Alabama Educational Television Commission shall continue as the governing body of the Alabama public network. History: (Acts 1982, 2nd Ex. Sess., No. 82-786, p. 289, §7.)

The provisions of this chapter are cumulative and shall not be construed to repeal or supersede any laws not directly in conflict or inconsistent herewith. History: (Acts 1982, 2nd Ex. Sess., No. 82-786, p. 289, §8.)

(a) The county board of education shall be composed of five members, who shall be elected by the qualified electors of the county. (b) County boards of education unless otherwise provided by law may use the provisions of this subsection to establish single member election distric…

The county boards of education shall maintain a uniform and effective system of public schools throughout their respective counties. History: (School Code 1927, §96; Code 1940, T. 52, §72.)

(a) All the property, estate, effects, money, funds, claims, and donations now or hereafter vested by law in the public school authorities of any county for the benefit of the public schools of any county are hereby transferred and vested in the county board of education, and the…

In addition to all authority previously granted by statute, county boards of education may enter into cooperative agreements, projects and programs with the county commission, and may take such other actions as they deem necessary and appropriate for the proper management of the …

The county board of education shall consolidate schools wherever in its judgment it is practicable and arrange, if necessary, for the transportation of pupils to and from such consolidated schools, subject to the provisions of this title. History: (School Code 1927, §100; Code 19…

The county boards of two or more adjoining counties shall have the power, by resolution spread upon the minutes of such county boards of education in the counties so adjoining, to form a consolidated school to be composed of the territory bounded by the limits set out for each co…

The government and control of any school in the consolidated territory lying within two counties formed in accordance with the resolution of the boards shall be vested in the county board of education of the county in which the school building is located or is to be located, unle…

The county boards of education of the counties which have formed a consolidated school composed of territory lying within different counties shall apportion funds to the consolidated school or schools in the same manner as to any other school in the county. The funds apportioned …