Alabama schools, colleges, getting $280 million from technology fund

Alabama school systems and colleges will receive supplements totaling about $280 million this year under a bill signed into law today by Gov. Kay Ivey.

The governor’s office announced that Ivey signed the bill making the appropriations from the state’s Advancement and Technology Fund.

A law called the Rolling Reserve Act that passed a decade ago set up the Advancement and Technology Fund to save a portion of education revenue every year. The Legislature can then appropriate the money to K-12 and higher education for certain non-recurring expenses.

This year’s bill will provide $206 million for K-12 and $76 million for colleges and universities, including the Alabama Community College System.

The money can be used for repairs and deferred maintenance, classroom instruction support, insuring facilities, transportation, school security, and education technology and equipment. About $1.9 million of this year’s share to K-12 will go to teacher professional development.

“Investing in Alabama’s students in a productive way is investing in our future,” Ivey said in a press release. “It is critical, now more than ever, to find ways to improve our students’ learning journeys, and I am proud to officially put pen to paper on Senate Bill 193 to put funds into much-needed projects in our schools. As long as I am your governor, putting a greater emphasis on our schools will be a top priority.”

The money is for this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, 2021. Funds not used will be carried forward for the same purpose to next fiscal year.

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