U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) joined Sen. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) to introduce a resolution designating January 23-29, as National School Choice Week.
“Education is the key to freedom and opportunity,” said Tuberville. “It has the power to uplift and transform someone’s life. While each student has different needs and interests, they all deserve access to a quality education. We must continue our work to remove educational barriers to empower our students to reach their full potential.”
The National School Choice Week resolution encourages parents and students to explore the educational opportunities available to them and raises awareness about the opportunities provided by receiving a quality education.
School choice is very controversial in Alabama, where the teacher’s union (the Alabama Education Association) has staunchly opposed the expansion of school choice. Despite this, Alabama families can choose from traditional public schools, public charter schools in a few places, some public magnet schools, private schools, online academies, and homeschooling. Children who are zoned for Alabama’s poorest performing schools can get a scholarship to attend another public school or a private school through scholarship-granting organizations (SGOs). Taxpayers in Alabama have the option of electing to have a portion of their state income tax dollars go to an SGO rather than to the education trust fund budget.
Gubernatorial candidates Lynda “Lindy” Blanchard, Dean Odle, Dave Thomas and Tim James have campaigned on bringing more school choice options to the state.
Other resolution sponsors include Sens. Mike Braun (R-IN), Richard Burr (R-NC), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Steve Daines (R-MT), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Ron Johnson (R-WI), James Lankford (R-OK), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rick Scott (R-FL), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Todd Young (R-IN), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), and Jim Inhofe (R-OK).
Tuberville is in his first term representing Alabama in the U.S. Senate.
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