MONTGOMERY, AL. (WDNews) — On Friday, Governor Kay Ivey presented the McDade family, one of thousands of Alabama households that are taking advantage of the state’s education savings account (ESA) program under the CHOOSE Act.
The tool is being used by Breauna McDade, a mother of three, to assist her 11-year-old son, KaMarrion, in moving from public school to Valiant Cross Academy in Montgomery for the current academic year. Her youngest child is four years old, and her eldest son, KaMerrin, is already enrolled at Valiant Cross according to the Alabama Accountability Act.
According to Ivey, the CHOOSE Act is helping thousands of families in Alabama, including the McDades. According to KaMarrion’s mother, the CHOOSE Act is assisting her in her mission to send all of her boys to Valiant Cross so they can grow up to be good young men and acquire a good education.
According to McDade, she became aware of Valiant Cross while working in a daycare and was motivated by the improvements she observed in the boys who attended the school. Although she was happy with her son’s education at public school, she desired a setting that closely reflected the beliefs of her family.
McDade encouraged other parents who were thinking about using the CHOOSE Act to do so.
Take action. Make use of it. It’s only paperwork, McDade pointed out. The five-minute application is the most challenging. Give your kids the advantage we didn’t have when we were kids.
With a $4,000 family cap, the CHOOSE Act offers refundable income tax credits of $7,000 for each qualifying student enrolled in a participating private school and $2,000 for each student in a home schooling program. Tuition, fees, and other authorized educational costs at state-approved education service providers may be covered by the funds.
More than 36,800 students in Alabama have applied since the application period began in January 2025, and more than 23,000 of those applications have been granted, bringing the total number of ESAs this year to almost $124 million. January 2026 marks the opening of applications for the 2026–2027 academic year.
Go tochooseact.alabama.gov for additional information.
