The State Board of Education discussed top priorities Thursday for next year's education budget, requesting a $225 million increase for the Foundation Program and a significant $52 million increase for struggling readers beyond 3rd grade in the FY26 Education Trust Fund (ETF) budget. 

Deputy State Superintendent Brandon Payne detailed a breakdown of the proposed Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) FY26 ETF budget request of $6.4 billion, a 7% increase over FY25. This does not include any one-time funds available in the ETF supplemental appropriation, which this year was $651 million, with $158.5 million earmarked for K-12 education. State Superintendent of Education Eric Mackey noted the Education Advancement and Technology Fund will have approximately $1.6 billion available next year.

FY26 ALSDE Budget Request: The requested FY26 Foundation Program will feature additional funding for assistant principals, which Mackey noted both the governor and legislative budget chairmen support. Mackey said they have committed to decreasing the number of students required for an assistant principal from 300 students to 250 students, and to include elementary schools. He cautioned this number may look more like 275 students in this FY26 budget, with the goal to get down to 250 within the next couple of years. The requested Foundation Program increases also include fully funding transportation, which the Legislature has historically funded at around 81%, and a significant increase of $26 million for special education teacher incentive stipends.

The ALSDE budget request will be approved at the October board meeting, ready for the ALSDE to submit to the Executive Budget Office by the Nov. 1 constitutional deadline. View the ALSDE budget request spreadsheet.

Other increases requested:

• Struggling Readers Beyond 3rd Grade – $52 million for teachers and students in grade 4 and above who are not reading at grade level
• School Safety, Security, and Climate - $51 million for school safety grants. The SBOE is responsible for creating the school security inspection criteria and rubric pursuant to the new School Security Act (Act 2024-356). Mackey noted the Legislature may fund some or all of this request with one-time funds from the supplemental budget, which was last done in 2023, appropriating $40 million for school safety grants
• Numeracy - $27 million for the Numeracy Act and $6 million for the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) including math coaches
• College and Career Readiness Grants - $20 million for these grants which received one-time funds in the supplemental budget this year
• After-School and Summer Programs - $14.4 million which will cover programs that previously used federal relief funds
• Student Assessment - $13.4 million
• Career Tech Initiative - $10 million
• Literacy - $7.4 million for the Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI)
• Teacher Mentor Program - $5 million
• Special Education Certified Behavior Analyst Program - $5 million
• Science in Motion Program - $3.5 million
• Gifted Students - $3 million
• Multi-Tier System of Supports - $2 million
• Assistant Principal Stipends - $2.6 million as part of the Principal Act
• ACCESS Distance Learning - $2.3 million
• English Language Learners - $1.5 million

Teacher Retirement System (TRS) and Public Education Employee Health Insurance Program (PEEHIP) Updates: At the SBOE’s August retreat, Mackey provided an overview of the FY26 budget landscape, with an anticipated increase in the PEEHIP active member monthly rate, additional costs for the retiree Medicare Advantage prescription program, and potentially another state and education employee pay raise. 

Thursday’s work session included a Retirement Systems of Alabama overview of the current fiscal state of TRS and PEEHIP, as K-12 forms the largest part of TRS. Last week the PEEHIP board, on which Mackey serves, approved a FY26 budget request of a 1% increase in the employer monthly contribution rate for active members from $800 to $904. PEEHIP requested level funding for the last nine years. The PEEHIP board also authorized RSA to withdraw $119 million from the retiree trust, to help offset costs while they request $129 million from the Legislature for TRS. 

Mackey previously explained a retiree cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) is not an ALSDE request and there is not a designated budget line item for this request. The SBOE emphasized during last month’s retreat they want to officially support a retiree COLA despite it not being an ALSDE budget item. RSA gave a historical overview of how a retiree COLA or bonus has previously been funded and recent legislative efforts to provide another COLA or bonus. The last retiree COLA funded in 2007 cost $1.5 billion. A 1% retiree COLA just for TRS would cost close to $200 million. 

At this time, RSA has not indicated support for a retiree COLA but remains firm in its opposition to unfunded retiree COLAs. RSA’s top legislative priority is the funding of the expected PEEHIP employer contribution request, which is needed in part due to unexpected cost increase for Medicare-eligible retirees. There are significant decreases in federal funding for Medicare Advantage plans and increases in costs for Medicare Part D prescription, which almost quadruples what the retiree plan will pay for Medicare.

Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program (ACAP) Reading Cut Score: Mackey presented a recommendation for a three-year ramp up to change the current reading subtest cut score from 435 to 454. The cut score would jump to 444 this school year and next, increasing again to 454 in the third year and staying at that level. Citing conversations with both the Governor and each SBOE member, "Everyone wants to move our reading cut score up - the question is how quickly we want to move it up," said Mackey. Marie Manning (District 6) suggested making the summer reading camps mandatory for students performing below grade level. The intention, SBOE members discussed, is to ensure students are not promoted to the next grade if they cannot read on grade level, especially from 3rd to 4th grade. "Their goal is not to retain any students. It's about prevention and intervention before retention," said Mackey. 

Workforce Pathway Diploma: As required by the Alabama Workforce Pathways Act, the SBOE reviewed a draft amendment to the Alabama Administrative Code Rule 290-3-1-.02 with approved courses that may be a part of this curriculum for students who intend to enter the workforce immediately after graduation (Act 2024-126). Students completing this new diploma pathway will only be required to complete two math credits and two science credits instead of the four math and science credits each required of other students. The pathway does not create a separate high school diploma, but a new option for earning the same diploma.

Resolutions from the SBOE Meeting:

• Approved the Alternative Teacher Preparation Organization #TEACH
• Recognition of Oct. 14-18 as "National School Lunch Week" in Alabama Schools

Next SBOE Meeting and Work Session:

The board’s next meeting will take place during Thursday, Oct. 10 at 10 a.m. in Montgomery with a work session immediately following:

• Gordon Persons Building Auditorium
• Livestream viewing: https://www.youtube.com/user/aldeptofed/live
• Archived meeting and work session recordings: https://www.alabamaachieves.org/state-board-of-education/meeting-videos/

Ada Katherine van Wyhe, MPA
Director of Governmental Relations