Education remains a struggle for state government, which has been entirely under Republican control since 2011.
In 2019, Republicans came into power in the Alabama State House with a supermajority in both chambers. Yet legislation promoting school choice, one of the proposed conservative fixes to K-12 public schools, languished during the 2022 regular session.
During an interview with Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5's "The Jeff Poor Show," State Rep. Andrew Sorrell (R-Muscle Shoals), a GOP candidate for State Auditor, predicted that would change next year.
The Colbert County lawmaker said the Alabama Legislature would pass "strong school choice legislation" in 2023.
"[I]'m going to make a bold prediction," Sorrell said. "Last year, I was on your radio show and several others. I made a bold prediction that constitutional carry would pass in the 2022 legislative session. And a lot of people kind of scorned that a little bit. But it ended up coming true, and we have it coming to effect January 1. I'm going to make a bold prediction: I think Alabama passes strong school choice legislation next year. I feel it coming. I feel the momentum.
"There are people starting to say we can't hold this back forever. I've even heard some comments from some people who work for AEA saying we know we can't stop this forever. And that lets me know they have resigned themselves to the fact that school choice is coming to Alabama because it is very, very popular. You see that all across the nation, like Virginia with Glenn Youngkin. That played a big role in Glenn Youngkin winning that Virginia's governor's race. The Alabama Legislature has been tone-deaf on this issue, but I think that changes next year."
Sorrell, Stan Cooke, Rusty Glover are all running for the position of State Auditor in the May 24 Republican primary. No Democratic candidate qualified to run for the office.
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email jeff.poor@1819News.com.
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