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Board hears overview of 2025 education legislation: raises, new funds and new laws to implement
Summary
Department legislative staff summarized major bills from the recent legislative session including teacher pay increases, a $15 minimum hourly rate for school employees, A&T Plus funding and new laws such as the Principal Mentorship Act and a financial literacy requirement for students.
Tina Hammonds, who leads legislative work for the Alabama State Department of Education, briefed the State Board of Education on the major education-related enactments from the most recent legislative session and their immediate implications for department operations and local districts.
Hammonds said the session included a 2% pay increase for all public education employees, a new minimum hourly rate of $15 for school employees, and a new salary matrix for LPNs and school nurses with an intent in the legislation to fund one LPN or nurse per school in fiscal year 2029. The legislature also increased targeted funding for coaches, adding $25 million for math coaches this year and adding allocations for career coaches and reading coaches in K—3 schools.
Hammonds described a supplemental appropriation that created "A&T Plus" (Advancement and Technology Plus) to cover technology and instructional needs, and noted a pre-funding allocation of approximately $20.4 million for student classroom materials so districts receive some textbook and materials dollars earlier than the October fiscal schedule.
On school safety and student supports, the legislature appropriated $40 million for school safety grants, $24 million for summer math camps and $20 million for "fleet renewal high needs." Hammonds also summarized changes to procurement thresholds, the Education Trust Fund roll and the creation of an Educational Opportunities Reserve Fund with specified minimum and cap amounts.
Hammonds listed several new or amended laws the department must implement: an interstate teacher mobility compact (no immediate implementation steps while national rules are developed), the Principal Mentorship Act (which will create a principal mentoring program and a leadership academy, with a design team solicited), a financial literacy law that requires a statewide exam aligned to the approved financial-literacy course, and amendments to the Alabama Literacy Act including transparency requirements and membership changes to the literacy task force.
Hammonds said the department is working on memos, rules and guidance to match department procedures to the new statutes. She cautioned that some laws are effective immediately and require rapid departmental action (for example, some Charter School Act changes took effect on enactment). The department will present rule-change proposals to the board where the law requires board rules, and will release memoranda for other items.
Board members asked for follow-up guidance and for timelines for rule changes. Hammonds said the department will prepare a list of rule changes and supporting memos and will work with board members to schedule any rule-change actions, acknowledging statutory timelines for administrative-code updates.
Ending The board received the legislative summary; department staff committed to provide detailed guidance, rule-change drafts where required and implementation memos over the coming weeks so districts and the board can comply with and act on the new laws.
