Dive Brief:
- The Alabama House has passed a $5.9 billion education budget that includes increases in a number of areas -- but not in teacher pay.
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State House Ways and Means Education Committee Chairman Bill Poole said the state did not have the money for raises, saying even a 1% raise would cost $36 million.
- The budget remains below Alabama's record school budget of $6.7 billion in 2008.
Dive Insight:
There are some winners in the budget, with increases for pre-kindergarten program spending, textbooks and classroom supplies, among other hikes. The state House passed the measure on a unanimous 105-0 vote -- a considerably different outcome than 2014, when it got out of the chamber on a 54-45 vote. The state Senate already has approved its own measure, and now can either affirm the House version of call for the creation of a conference committee to iron out differences.