Sports have always been a quintessential part of the typical American high school experience, with cheerleading, football leagues, or friendships built with peers; sports act as an even playing field for individuals to showcase pure artistry and strength. In fact, according to a Pew Research Centre survey, conducted in February 2022, about 1 in 2 Americans say they took part in an organised competitive sport in high school or college.
In addition, sports have been regarded as a building block for pupils’ mental and physical health, and confidence: some 79 percent of adults who played sports had “a positive impact [on their self-esteem]”—with 38 percent saying it had a “very positive impact”. This could be attributed to safeguarding the rights of individuals in the realm of athletics. For instance, Title IX “prohibits discrimination based on sex…including athletic programs, that receive Federal financial assistance…”.
The benefits of school sports, however, continue to be challenged by the introduction of new educational policies.
What is The CHOOSE Act?
Signed into law by Governor Kay Ivey on the 7th of March, 2024, the CHOOSE Act provides an incentive (i.e., in the form of a school voucher program) for families that have children attending private schools or are home-schooled to cover tuition costs.
Their interpretation of Governor Ivey’s law falls under the category of financial aid, where rules state that students receiving [school vouchers in this case “aid”] are ineligible for athletic participation in their first year following a transfer.
The law required the Alabama Department of Revenue to establish a framework and funding for ESAs beginning in the 2025-2026 school year. These ESAs—also known as the Education Savings Account Program—support eligible K-12 students’ educational expenses. Such expenses include tuition, tutoring, athletics, fees, and textbooks.
Seeing how public education is often sidelined by the introduction of the Trump administration’s school voucher programs, which disproportionately prioritise private education and wealthy families like the DeVos and Koch foundations, the CHOOSE Act provides an opportunity for each eligible child’s needs to be met and acknowledged.
Although most of its funds are allocated to private institutions, participating public schools can also tap into state dollars to fund educational expenses. This is divided into three years that suggest that “...Clearly, taxpaying Alabama families want school choice.”, said Ivey.
Year 1—from 2025 to the 2026 academic year, prioritises the first 500 students with special needs who are awarded ESAs; followed by children of active-duty service members assigned to a priority school.
The third priority is given to students from families at or below 300% of the federal poverty level, as defined in the CHOOSE Act’s tax policy. Beginning with the 2026–2027 academic year and beyond, students who received ESAs in the previous year will instead be considered a second priority.
Governor Ivey’s introduction (and assimilation) of the CHOOSE Act has allowed families of varying socio-economic standings to choose their own life, with nearly 22,167 applications submitted for a total of 36,873 students out of all the participating schools. This substantial number of applications raises the possibility that: a) the state of Alabama will exhaust the available $100 million in funding, and b) lawmakers will potentially look into expanding its capital.
A Repeat-Reaping for Corporate Greed and Wealthy Families?
On the 4th of September, 2025, the AHSAA (Alabama High School Athletic Association) released a statement regarding the CHOOSE Act. The association believes that the final draft of the act omits the word ‘rules’, which introduces ambiguity despite “early drafts [of the CHOOSE Act] explicitly protested AHSAA’s eligibility rules”.
The AHSAA argues that this rule helps “promote competitive equity and deters recruitment”—creating an objective and fair space for student athletes to pursue their chosen sport. Without it [the rule that deterred the CHOOSE Act], private institutions could recruit D1 athletes by encouraging them to transfer and use vouchers to cover tuition costs and educational expenses—putting community colleges and smaller-scale institutions at an immense disadvantage. The association aims to reaffirm its “unwavering commitment to fairness, consistency, and member-driven governance” as a result.
The CHOOSE Act, which went into effect nearly six months prior, allows families to tap up to “$7,000 in state funding to help pay for private school” and “up to $2,000 for homeschooling expenses”,—where Governor Ivey and House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter filed a complaint in the Montgomery Circuit Court against the AHSAA.
This complaint was regarding “block the association’s ruling on eligibility and pave the way for the students” to participate in athletics. However, it’s important to consider that Alabama is one of many states that use school vouchers and tax credits to help families pay for educational expenses.
A Win for Educational Reform
Ivey and Ledbetter said the CHOOSE Act was designed to “have no such restriction on athletic participation”,—where the two Republicans had filed the court action shortly after the board “refused to reverse its decision”.
“We wrote and passed the CHOOSE Act to give every child a true choice in their education…includes participation in athletics”, said Governor Ivey. Ledbetter believes that the AHSAA’s leadership states that “they are not concerned with the best interests of all student-athletes”.
Montgomery Circuit Judge J.R. Gaines, on the 6th of September, 2025, issued a temporary restraining order that barred the association [AHSAA] from enforcing a policy that “says voucher recipients are ineligible to play sports” during their first year at a new school.
“Today’s order is a victory for common sense,” said Ivey to the Associated Press—she believes that the policy unfairly penalised students for “making education choices supported by state legislation”. The CHOOSE Act has allowed young athletes filled with hopes, aspirations, and passion to pursue what they know all too well: sportsmanship—choosing what they find comfort in.
Alabama changed the game for educational reform and created an even playing field where students from different economic backgrounds can experience a day of their own. Step by step, it slowly redefines a new era for educational reform, and possibly, a silver lining to education disparity: a chance for the United States to re-enact the now-lost American dream.