Capital Pulse 1.23.26

ALABAMA EDUCATION ASSOCIATION The Capital

P U LSE

Your Weekly Legislative Update

JANUARY 23, 2026 THE RUNDOWN The Alabama Legislature reconvened on Tuesday, January 20, for the fourth day of the regular session. Lawmakers met for three days this week, both in the chamber and in committee meetings. Since opening day, the session in Montgomery has been moving at a rapid pace to complete the 30 legislative days as quickly as possible, giving legislators time to return to their districts to campaign. With six legislative days now complete, 24 days remain in the 2025 Regular Session.

ACTION ALERT ­— KEEP CALLING YOUR LEGISLATORS! Earlier this week, a legislator made the following bold claim regarding pay for Alabama educators...

“Honestly, if you start looking at the pay and the benefits that a teacher receives, it’s really good. But teachers don’t know that because the AEA has spent so much time telling them that they’re underpaid.”

Your legislators need to hear from YOU that the proposed 2% raise is not enough. The inflation rate increased by 2.7% in 2025, and Alabama’s educators need better compensation to combat the effects. Click the following links to contact your state senator and representative today and ask them to give education retirees a much needed bonus and Alabama’s hardworking educators more than 2%.

MOVING THIS WEEK SB149, by Sen. Matt Woods, creates a temporary teaching certificate for military veterans who have at least 48 months of honorable active-duty service, 60 college credit hours with a minimum 2.5 GPA, a passing Praxis content exam score, a background check, and a recommendation from a local superintendent or private school administrator. SB149 passed the Senate Education Policy Committee on Wednesday and the full Senate on Thursday. This bill will now go to the House.

SB168, by Sen. Donnie Chesteen, prohibits public K-12 schools and educator preparation programs from using the three-cueing system or visual memory to teach reading. It also requires reading instruction and materials to be based on structured literacy and the science of reading.

SB168 passed the Senate Education Policy Committee on Wednesday and the full Senate on Thursday. This bill will now go to the House.

MOVING THIS WEEK (CONTINUED) HB138, by Rep. Kenneth Paschal, allows individuals retired under the Employees’ Retirement System or the Teachers’ Retirement System to work as full-time school bus drivers without suspension of retirement benefits if specified compensation and eligibility conditions are met.

HB138 passed the House Ways and Means Education Committee on Tuesday and the full House on Thursday. The bill will now go to the Senate.

SB74, by Sen. Donnie Chesteen and HB124, by Rep. Terri Collins, renames the Alabama Math and Science Teacher Education Program and expands loan assistance eligibility to educators in acute shortage programs and locations as determined by the Alabama Commission on Higher Education in consultation with the State Department of Education and the Alabama Commission on the Evaluation of Services. SB74 received a favorable report in the Senate Education Policy Committee on Wednesday and can now be taken up by the entire Senate. HB124 passed the entire House and can now be taken up by the Senate.

SB140, by Sen. David Sessions, requires juvenile courts to provide written notice to a local superintendent or private school principal when an enrolled student is charged with specified serious offenses or adjudicated delinquent and authorizes notice for other delinquent acts that would be crimes if committed by an adult. SB140 received a favorable report from the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday and can now be taken up by the entire Senate.

SB158, by Sen. Randy Price and HB196 by Rep. Matt Simpson, requires each public high school to designate one school day during the fall semester for military recruiters to administer the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) to students on a voluntary basis. HB158 received a favorable report in the Senate Veterans and Military Affairs committee and can now be taken up by the entire Senate.

HB33, by Rep. Ron Bolton, removes school enrollment and attendance requirements for individuals under 17 to apply for or renew a driver’s license or learner permit. HB33 received a favorable report in the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday and can now be taken up by the entire House.

HB78, by Rep. Jeana Ross, requires the Department of Early Childhood Education, in collaboration with the Department of Human Resources and the State Department of Education, to establish screen time guidelines. The guidelines prohibit any screen time for children under the age of 2, limit screen time for older children to age-appropriate amounts, and require active supervision while banning background and passive screen use. Licensed childcare facilities, prekindergarten programs, and public kindergarten classrooms must implement these limits through licensure oversight or local board policy. HB78 passed the House Education Policy Committee on Wednesday and can now be taken up by the entire House.

HB122, by Rep. Terri Collins, would have allowed teachers with more than 20 years of service participating in the TEAMS Salary Schedule Program to be offered advanced contracts of up to five years instead of a mandatory five-year term, but a committee amendment limits future TEAMS advanced contracts, beginning October 1, 2026, to the contract lengths otherwise authorized by statute, which is up to three years for teachers with more than 20 years of service. HB122 received a favorable report in the House Education Policy Committee on Wednesday and can now be taken up by the entire House.

HB165, by Rep. Danny Garrett, requires each public institution of higher education to submit an annual report detailing state and federal funds received and expended and plans for operating if state or federal funding is reduced, while removing the Alabama Community College System (ACCS) from existing federal fund reporting requirements. HB165 received a favorable report in the House Ways and Means Education Committee on Wednesday and can now be taken up by the entire House.

MOVING THIS WEEK (CONTINUED) HB168, by Rep. Jamie Kiel, expands the loitering exemption to allow wearing medical masks at public assemblies for disease mitigation and authorizes local boards of education and public institutions of higher education to adopt and enforce campus mask policies. HB168 received a favorable report in the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday and can now be taken up by the entire House.

HB178, by Rep. Danny Garrett, authorizes two or more adjoining city boards of education to form a consolidated school district and requires the State Board of Education to adopt rules for implementation. HB178 received a favorable report in the House Ways and Means Education Committee on Wednesday and can now be taken up by the entire House.

HB225, by Rep. Van Smith, reduces the required posting period from 14 to seven calendar days for filling supervisory, managerial, or newly created board of education personnel positions when schools are in session. HB225 received a favorable report in the House Education Policy Committee on Wednesday and can now be taken up by the entire House.

INTRODUCED THIS WEEK HB290, by Rep. Juandalynn Givan, requires public school systems and other education employers to provide employees with reasonable break time and a private, non-bathroom location to express breast milk and prohibits discrimination related to exercising this right.

HB294, by Rep. Napoleon Bracy, establishes the Alabama Professional Workforce Protection Act to define teachers, educators, and education administrators as professional careers under state law and ensures their eligibility for state workforce development programs, scholarships, loan repayment programs, and related initiatives.

HB306, by Rep. Rick Rehm, creates a temporary teaching certificate for military veterans who have at least 48 months of honorable active-duty service, 60 college credit hours with a minimum 2.5 GPA, a passing Praxis content exam score, a background check, and a recommendation from a local superintendent or private school administrator.

HB316, by Rep. Barbara Drummond, requires parents or legal guardians to reasonably secure firearms and creates a Class A misdemeanor when a minor unlawfully possesses a firearm on the premises of a public preK-12 school as a proximate result of the failure to secure the firearm, subject to specified exceptions.

HB329, by Rep. David Faulkner, requires Alabama public school students to complete an approved computer science course for high school graduation beginning with the class of 2032 and expands state law to define computer science content standards and allowable course credit substitutions.

SB191, by Sen. Sam Givhan, creates the Home Schooling Opportunities for Military Education Act to require notice from relocating active-duty military parents who homeschool and to allow their dependents access to public school facilities, special education services, and interscholastic activities under specified conditions.

SB201, by Sen. Sam Givhan, requires local school systems to provide access to JROTC programs to home school and private school students who are dependents of active duty military parents relocating under orders and who reside within the system’s attendance zone, subject to existing eligibility requirements.

Thus far, 535 bills have been introduced by the Legislature. AEA staff continues to read each bill and monitors them daily to ensure they will positively affect public education.

Remember, while you’re busy serving our state’s students, we’ve got your back in the Alabama Legislature!

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ALABAMA EDUCATION ASSOCIATION