Former state lawmaker announces campaign for Alabama Board of Education, promises to support school choice

Former Alabama Rep. Charlotte Meadows announced her campaign for the state’s top education board, promising to advance school choice and parental rights.

“My passion has always been for education in Alabama, and I feel like we can do better than we have done,” Meadows told local media. “I have three grandchildren, and already we can tell they are all three different and unique with their own needs. We just have to provide the resources that every child needs, and we can.”

Alabama currently has two small tax-credit programs offering school choice but hasn’t joined the wave of states enacting full-blown education savings accounts (ESAs).

Earlier this year, an ESA bill for special needs students passed almost unanimously in the House only to die in the Senate.  

“My platform is going to be around parental rights, school choice and accountability and transparency from the state department,” Meadows said. “I’ve been following the state department for over 15 years pretty closely, and sometimes it doesn’t feel like they focus on student achievement.”  

Just last month, the Alabama State Board of Education lowered reading standards for 3rd graders while anticipating thousands of students being held back due to poor literacy.  

Students who can’t read proficiently by 4th grade are more likely to struggle academically, drop out of school, and face reduced future earnings.  

And Meadows wasn’t shy about criticizing the state board for being too passive.  

“There hasn’t been very much strong leadership from the state board,” the former lawmaker said. “There’s eight members of the state board who are elected by the taxpayers, and I don’t think they’re [the taxpayers] getting what they’re paying for.”  

However, Meadows clarified that her criticism was not about Gov. Kay Ivey, who is also a strong supporter of school choice.  

Meadows was a state representative from 2019 to 2022. She also serves on the board of Lead Academy, a charter school in Montgomery.  

“Most of the school choice in Alabama is public schools, and I would continue to support all public schools, whether they are the traditional public schools or some other public schools, including charter schools,” Meadows explained. “But I also think there’s a place in our state for private schools and home schools. 

“If we don’t focus on education, our businesses suffer, our families suffer, our children suffer.”