FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Education Freedom Day 2026 was a Huge Success!
Birmingham, AL – Americans for Prosperity–Alabama and the Alabama Policy Institute hosted Education Freedom Day on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, in Montgomery. Students went to Governor Ivey’s office to tell her thank you for her leadership in fully funding the CHOOSE Act and other education initiatives. Then, the organizations hosted a pep rally/press conference with about 75 attendees on the steps of the Alabama State House. Students, parents, education advocates, and legislative leadership celebrated and brought attention to successes in education freedom and school choice efforts in Alabama.
Alabama House Education Budget Chairman Danny Garrett was there to show his support and reiterated his advocacy for student-centered options in education in Alabama. He referenced Alabama’s 3rd in the nation ranking in student accessibility from the Friedman Index and said, “We’ll continue to support public education, because public education will serve the needs of most of our students, but public education has got to get on board, fix itself, and also begin to innovate and have choice, like we’re seeing. You’re already making an impact, because we’re seeing some very innovative ideas happening all throughout the state.”
CHOOSE Act parent, Abby Ireland, joined the group to articulate that two of her children are in public school but two of her children are now being homeschooled and finding extra support in speech and other therapies due to the passage of the CHOOSE Act, Abby stated, “The CHOOSE Act made it possible to bring our two youngest daughters home while limiting the financial strain to our family.”
Adam Thompson, State Director for Americans for Prosperity, stated, “Specifically, as the CHOOSE Act moves into universal eligibility in year three, we want to make sure that the legislature knows that the demand is there for families to fully fund us so that all Alabamians can take advantage of it if they so choose.”
After the press conference, participants moved to a luncheon where Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth answered questions from Stephanie Smith, Alabama Policy Institute President/CEO, about his thoughts on the CHOOSE Act and school choice. Ainsworth discussed his family’s experiences with public and private education, the need for parental rights in educational choice, and his ardent support for educational freedom for every single student in Alabama.
Stephanie Smith stated, “We want to thank the Governor, Lt. Governor, Chairman Garrett, the Ireland family, and the schools, micro schools, and school choice advocates that joined us for Education Freedom Day 2026. Alabama has become a leader and model for school choice accessibility and that status will only grow with the CHOOSE Act becoming universal for the 2027 school year. We are proud of what we have accomplished so far and are looking forward to see how these new options give Alabama schoolchildren new opportunities for success!”
FOR MORE INFORMATION, contact:
Alabama Policy Institute
