Rep. Susan DuBose, R-Hoover, speaks to a colleague on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on April 18, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. DuBose has filed a bill that would allow homeschool students to participate in career tech programs. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)
An Alabama state representative has filed a bill that would allow homeschool students to participate in career and technical education programs in traditional schools.
HB 61, sponsored by Rep. Susan DuBose, R-Hoover, would also allow the related expenses to be covered by the CHOOSE Act.
DuBose said the bill came from a constituent of hers whose son wanted to learn a trade. She said the local option did not allow homeschool students to participate in career technical education.
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“So I called around and sure enough the individual schools could opt in and allow students to do it but districts were not required to have a program that allowed homeschooled students to participate,” she said.
The Alabama Legislature has prioritized career and technical education programs in recent years, in part due to Alabama’s low workforce participation rates.
DuBose said the education groups she worked with asked that schools be able to set their own policies with their own prerequisites.
“They kind of have to set the rule according to which program it is they want to take, but it worked out and I think everybody agrees that this could be a good opportunity for students,” she said.
Sally Smith, executive director of the Alabama Association of School Boards, said they had been part of the discussion for this upcoming year’s bill and the 2024 version.
She said that she sees the bill as beneficial to the state’s economic goals. If a CTE program has excess space, she said they think it’s good to improve the qualifications of the workforce.
“We also think it’s a great opportunity for folks who have chosen not to see, not to participate in public education, the wonderful opportunities you can get in your public schools,” she said.
Students can be charged fees by the program, such as for materials. DuBose said that procedure would allow schools to receive some money for those students who are only enrolled in career and technical programs because they would be included in the average daily membership count.
In career and technical education programs with a limited number of spots, students enrolled in the traditional public school setting full time would receive preference for a spot in those courses.
“They have a commitment to the students that go there full time and then, if possible, they need to make room for the home school student,” she said.
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