The Office of the Governor of the State of Alabama

05/10/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/10/2024 10:43

Governor Ivey Celebrates Her Sixth Straight Record Education Budget

MONTGOMERY - Governor Kay Ivey, upon the Legislature's passage of the Education Trust Fund for Fiscal Year 2025, issued the following statement:

"Ensuring every Alabama student receives a quality education is my number one priority, and I am proud we are once again, for a sixth straight year, investing a record amount in education.

"From fully funding critical programs like the Literacy and Numeracy Acts to supporting the Turnaround Schools program to increasing our investment in special education to prioritizing workforce development needs like career coaches and dual enrollment, this budget wisely invests in the spectrum of education. I am proud we are jumpstarting priority projects like the Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences. We are giving more Alabama families the ability to choose the school that best suits their child's needs through my education savings account program. We are ensuring students are protected by investing in their mental health care and in the safety of our schools.

"Each year in my tenure as governor, I have been proud to propose a pay increase for our teachers, and I am grateful to the Legislature for again answering the call to give our teachers another deserved pay raise. During my state of the state address, I also challenged the Legislature to increase our starting salaries for teachers so we could have the highest base salary for teachers among our neighboring states. We accomplished that, and since I have been governor, we have seen a 24 percent base pay increase - that's something to be proud of for sure.

"Education is every Alabama child's ticket to a successful future, and I am proud this year's budget is exactly that - an investment in the future of Alabama." - Governor Kay Ivey

###