Democratic gubernatorial nominee Doug Jones Tuesday fielded questions about education and other topics at a town hall in Montgomery
Speaking to a crowd of at least 100 people, Jones talked about giving teachers and retirees a cost of living adjustment and said he wanted to “phase out the CHOOSE Act,” the state’s effective school voucher program. Income caps on eligibility for the program will end on Jan. 1.
“It’s (the CHOOSE Act) going to ultimately, if it doesn’t kill public schools, it’s going to just cripple and such that we do the public, and then we are seeing that in the numbers of kids that are in public schools this year,” Jones said. “The first year of the CHOOSE Act, 5,000 to 6,000 folks dropped fewer kids. The next year it was 12,000. Why do you think it’s going to be next year when the income caps are gone and we start giving handouts to people who make a lot of money?”…