HB558 Alabama 2025 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Danny GarrettRepresentative

Republican

Session

2025 Regular Session

Title

Alabama Renewing Alabama's Investment in Student Excellence (RAISE) Act created, additional funding for public schools authorized based on the individual needs of students

Summary

HB558 creates the Renewing Alabama's Investment in Student Excellence (RAISE) Act to provide targeted, weighted funding for public K-12 schools based on student needs and to unify state and federal funding applications and reporting.

What This Bill Does

It sets up the RAISE Fund to provide additional funding to local education agencies to address student needs and improve outcomes. It creates a weighted funding system based on student groups (poverty, special education, English language learners, charter, and gifted) and requires LEAs to report data and use funds for those groups. It establishes two oversight bodies to review progress and enforce accountability, and it requires a unified application system by 2028-2029 to streamline lots of funding reports, along with required professional development and an annual reporting process.

Who It Affects

• Local education agencies (LEAs) and public schools, which will receive and manage RAISE Fund allocations, provide required data, and comply with accountability and the unified application requirements.
• Students organized into the funded groups (poverty, special education, English Language Learners, gifted, and charter-school students) whose needs drive the funding weights and performance goals, with outcomes tracked and reported.

Key Provisions

• Creates the Renewing Alabama's Investment in Student Excellence (RAISE) Fund in the State Treasury to provide additional funding for public K-12 schools and outlines that funds come from the Education Trust Fund and must be used for purposes outlined in the act.
• Defines weighted allocations for qualifying student groups, including poverty (up to 20%), special education (Tier I up to 25%, Tier II up to 50%, Tier III up to 150%), English Language Learners (up to 15% plus concentrated ELL up to 5%), gifted students (up to 5%), and charter school students (up to 10% under certain county/city funding conditions).
• Requires LEAs to provide data and accountability reports and to submit a unified application for funding starting with the 2028-2029 school year, with the data used to determine allocations and track progress toward goals aligned with ESSA.
• Establishes the RAISE Act Review Committee (by January 1, 2028) to review program effectiveness and recommend revisions, and the RAISE Act Accountability and Implementation Board (by July 1, 2028) to monitor progress and approve corrective actions if needed.
• Mandates development of a unified application system by 2028-2029, including setting priorities, reducing redundancies, ensuring compliance, and providing professional learning for LEA staff, with an external partner assisting in development and auditing existing laws to reduce unnecessary burdens.
• Requires the Department of Education to publish a RAISE guide by July 1, 2025 and to implement a professional learning series for LEA leaders and staff; data from the funded groups will be reported on the Education Report Card and disaggregated by group.
• Contains an implementation timeline, including a 2025-2026 start contingent on funding, and the requirement that LEAs begin planning budgets with the unified system for the 2028-2029 school year.

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