HB47 Alabama 2020 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Artis McCampbellRepresentative

Democrat

Session

Regular Session 2020

Title

Education, school grading system, change designation of a failing school to a challenged school, nonfailing school to a nonchallenged school, State Board of Education required to reflect changes in terminology when amending or adopting rules, Secs. 16-6C-2, 16-6D-3, 16-6D-4, 16-6D-6, 16-6D-8, 16-6D-9 am'd.

Summary

The bill renames failing and nonfailing schools to challenged and nonchallenged schools and requires the State Board of Education to use these terms in rules, affecting school grading and the Alabama Accountability Act's tax-credit scholarship program.

What This Bill Does

It changes the labels used for school performance in the grading system and accountability law from 'failing' to 'challenged' and from 'nonfailing' to 'nonchallenged', and requires the State Board of Education to reflect these changes in rules. It defines and applies the new terms across the related statutes, including the Alabama Accountability Act's scholarship program. It preserves the tax-credit scholarship framework but aligns it with the new terminology, creating a Challenged Schools Income Tax Credit Account, outlining credit amounts and transfer rules, and detailing transportation responsibilities. It imposes reporting, testing, and financial accountability requirements on scholarship granting organizations and schools, with oversight and rulemaking by the Department of Revenue and the State Department of Education, and directs rulemaking for implementation.

Who It Affects

• Students and their parents: Students currently in challenged schools may transfer to nonchallenged public or nonpublic schools using an income tax credit, with eligibility rules, funding limits, and transportation considerations affecting where they can enroll.
• Local school systems, public and nonpublic schools, and scholarship organizations: These entities must adopt the new terminology in policy, administer the tax-credit and scholarship programs, and comply with reporting, testing, background checks, nondiscrimination, and other compliance requirements.

Key Provisions

• Terminology overhaul: failing becomes challenged and nonfailing becomes nonchallenged in grading and accountability law; State Board of Education must reflect these changes in rules when amending or adopting rules.
• Definitions and scope: establishes CHALLENGED SCHOOL and NONCHALLENGED SCHOOL definitions and aligns them with grading and the Alabama Accountability Act for consistent use.
• Challenged Schools Income Tax Credit Account: creates a dedicated Education Trust Fund account to fund tax credits for transferring from challenged to nonchallenged schools; credits are paid from this account and subject to annual caps.
• Credit mechanics and caps: tax credits equal 80% of the average annual state cost of attendance (or actual cost if lower), with limits on total credits (up to $30 million per year), carry-forward rules (up to 3 years), and cap/eligibility details for individuals and corporations.
• Transfer and funding rules: parents must attempt to enroll in a nonfailing/nonchallenged school within the local system first; transportation responsibilities and funding mechanisms are defined; limits on allocating funds to the previous school when moving to nonpublic options.
• Scholarship organization and school requirements: organizations must meet financial, operational, testing, nondiscrimination, background check, portability, reporting, and administrative standards; schools accepting scholarships must meet health, safety, accreditation, and reporting requirements.
• Accountability and reporting: requires annual and biennial reporting on student testing results, learning gains,Graduation data, and program administration; independent evaluation of learning gains every other year; data shared with legislative committees.
• Rulemaking and enforcement: Department of Revenue and the State Department of Education to adopt necessary rules; potential penalties or exclusions for noncompliance; public listing of participating scholarship organizations and required reports.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 22, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Education