Governor Kay Ivey's proposed budget included a transfer of $35 million in General Fund expenses to the Education Trust Fund (ETF) for the CHIP program. We must oppose ANY diversion of public education dollars! This expense is expected to grow to over $70 million in the next budget year and will likely increase every year moving forward.

In the past decade, Alabama faced some of the highest cuts to public education funding in the country. We have still not caught up to pre-Great Recession funding levels! 82% of Alabamians agree that education dollars should not be used for General Fund programs. With our students, educators, and retirees facing so many unmet needs, we MUST call on the Alabama House and Senate Education Budget Committees to #DefendETF and invest in our public schools!

Alabama has a long list of needs facing education. We still need to fully fund:

• Lower class sizes
• Mental health counselors
• Transportation
• Pre-K
• ARI, AMSTI, ASIM
• School libraries
• School nurses
• Improved school security
• Competitive salaries
• Retiree COLAs

Want to know more about the Education Trust Fund? Check out this short video!