Tax credit programs and vouchers are both school choice options for Alabama. Although the Alabama Constitution contains both a Compelled Support Clause and Blaine Amendment language, the Alabama courts have not interpreted these clauses expansively to prohibit school choice. Indeed, in 2015, the Alabama Supreme Court rejected a challenge to Alabama’s tax-credit-generated scholarship and refundable tax credit programs that raised claims under these (and several other) provisions of the Alabama Constitution in Magee v. Boyd.
To avoid potential problems with the second of Alabama’s Blaine Amendments (Article XIV, Section 263), voucher program funding should explicitly come from sources other than the state’s public school fund.
Model Legislation: Education Savings Account, Parental Choice Scholarship Program (Universal Eligibility), Parental Choice Scholarship Program (Means-Tested Eligibility), Special Needs Scholarship Program, Foster Child Scholarship Program, Autism Scholarship, Great Schools Tax Credit Program, Family Education Tax Credit Program