Alabama Amendment 1, Appointed Education Board Amendment (March 2020)

Alabama Amendment 1
Election date March 3, 2020
Topic Education and Administration of government
Status d Defeated
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature
List of Alabama measuresAlabama Amendment 1Alabama Amendment 2Alabama Amendment 3Alabama Amendment 4Alabama Amendment 5Alabama Amendment 6Submit

The Alabama Appointed Education Board Amendment was on the ballot in Alabama as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on March 3, 2020. It was defeated.

A "yes" vote supported amending the Alabama Constitution to rename the State Board of Education as the Alabama Commission on Elementary and Secondary Education and change the board from being elected by voters to being appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate.

A "no" vote opposed amending the Alabama Constitution, thus not changing the name of the State Board of Education and continuing to elect members.

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Election results

Alabama Amendment 1
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		277,320	24.88%
No		837,234	75.12%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Overview

What would this amendment have done?

See also: Constitutional changes and ballot language

Amendment 1 would have renamed the State Board of Education as the Alabama Commission on Elementary and Secondary Education. The amendment would have changed the board from being elected by voters to being appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. Under the amendment, the name of the State Superintendent of Education would have been changed to the Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education. Amendment 1 was designed to direct the governor to ensure that members of the commission "reflect the geographical, gender, and racial diversity of the students enrolled in public K-12 education in the state."

Under the amendment, the commission would have been tasked with adopting "course of study standards that ensure nationwide consistency and the seamless transfer of students from within and outside of the state, in lieu of common core." The commission would have also been tasked with adopting educator certification and professional development programs as well as assessment and accountability systems.

Under Amendment 1, the governor would have been authorized to appoint a team of local educators and other officials to advise the commission on matters relating to the functioning and duties of the State Department of Education.

What is the State Board of Education?

See also: Background

Going into the election, the Alabama State Board of Education was an elected executive agency of the Alabama state government, responsible for managing the state's public K-12 education. Going into the election, the board's mission was "To provide a state system of education which is committed to academic excellence and which provides education of the highest quality to all Alabama students, preparing them for the 21st century." As of 2020, the board was composed of nine members, including the governor, who also served as the president of the board. The other members were elected to four-year terms by voters in one of the state's eight education districts, all of which are similar in population. Elections to the board were staggered, with Districts 1, 3, 5, and 7 holding elections in presidential election years, while Districts 2, 4, 6, and 8 hold elections in midterm years. The board annually elected a vice president and a president pro tempore from among its elected members. As of 2020, the board was responsible for appointing a superintendent of education and adopting courses of study and learning standards for each subject area, including what textbooks will be used. The board also approved university and college teacher preparation and certification programs.

How did this measure get on the ballot?

See also: Path to the ballot

This measure was sponsored by Republican Senator Del Marsh of Alabama's 12th Senate District. On May 16, 2019, the Alabama State Senate approved SB 397, with 30 members supporting the amendment and five members not voting. On May 31, 2019, the bill was passed by the House in a vote of 78-21 with 5 members not voting.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title was as follows:

“

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, to change the name of the State Board of Education to the Alabama Commission on Elementary and Secondary Education; to provide for the appointment of the members of the commission by the Governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate; to change the name of the State Superintendent of Education to the Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education; to provide for the appointment of the secretary by the commission, subject to confirmation by the Senate; and to authorize the Governor to appoint a team of local educators and other officials to advise the commission on matters relating to the functioning and duties of the State Department of Education.

”

Constitutional changes

See also: Article VIII, Alabama Constitution

The measure would have amended Amendment 284 of the Alabama Constitution. The following underlined text would have been added and struck-through text would have been deleted:

Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.

Insert the text of the quote here, without quotation marks.

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2020

Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title and summary for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The Alabama State Legislature wrote the ballot language for this measure. The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 18, and the FRE is 16. The word count for the ballot title is 116, and the estimated reading time is 30 seconds.

Support

Legislative sponsors

Republican Senator Del Marsh of Alabama's 12th Senate District sponsored this amendment in the Senate.

Supporters

• Alabama Governor Kay Ivey (R), who also functions as the President of the board
• House Ways and Means Education chairman Bill Poole (R-63)
• Alabama Farmers Federation

Arguments

• House Ways and Means Education chairman Bill Poole (R-63) argued that the amendment would remove politics from decisions on education policy. Poole said, "The thought and the hope and objective is, via an appointed school board, is to have education experts, subject matter experts that are crafting educational policy for the state of Alabama and try to take the politics out of it. Let's take the Rs and Ds and primaries and general elections out of it, and let’s just put qualified persons on the board and let them make good sound decisions."

• In a statement, Governor Kay Ivey (R) said, "Every Alabama voter will now have a chance to drastically change the structure for education governance in our state. It is time that bureaucracy no longer stands in the way of our educators, and most importantly, our students. Our current system is simply not working. Statistics prove that. However, through this bold change, I am confident that Alabama will have a system that will work more effectively for our students and educators."

Opposition

Opponents

Individuals

• Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Chris England

Organizations

• Alabama Republican Party
• Eagle Forum of Alabama
• Alabama Republican Party Executive Committee
• Alabama Democratic Conference

Arguments

• Eagle Forum of Alabama Executive Director Becky Gerritson said the group opposes the amendment for several reasons, including the following:

“

Amendment 1 will take away the right of Alabama voters to vote for their State Board Education Representative. Amendment 1 mandates (seals within our constitution) that “course of study standards ensure nationwide consistency and the seamless transfer of students from within and outside of the state.” That means national standards; the only one of which is the failed Common Core State Standards. We should not enshrine our Alabama Constitution with course of study standards (COS) that have caused Alabama to be ranked 49th in the USA in Math and Reading. Amendment 1 has bait and switch language that is deceiving, such as 'in lieu of common core'. One will notice that 'common core' is in lowercase which refers to something in generalized terms, and not in specific terms such as Common Core State Standards (CCSS). This is a play on words, yet very deceiving. The authors of this Amendment did not intend to get rid of Common Core State Standards, yet are telling the public Amendment 1 will get rid of them. The AL State Board of Education (SBOE) of which the Governor is a member, just voted to adopt a 'new' 2019 Math Course of Study (COS). Eagle Forum gave the SBOE members written proof in a side by side comparison of the 2019 Math COS and the Common Core Math Standards and they were in almost every case an exact duplicate; not new or improved. If Amendment 1 truly would rid our state of CCSS, then the new math standards would have to be removed. The ballot language violates Alabama law in that it does not clearly define and cover the true essence of the bill. Both the Alabama Constitution, Section 285, as well as the Alabama Code, Section 17-6-41, state that proposed constitutional amendment ballot language shall be “so printed that the nature thereof shall be clearly indicated [emphasis added].”

”

• Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Chris England said, "Let’s be honest here. It’s not a well-kept secret. As a state, Alabama ranks last—or close to last—in just about everything. Some might try and convince you that this is an effort to move public education forward, but greedy power grabs rarely lead to sustainable progress. Our state’s education system should not be used as a political football. Amendment One is another attempt to dismantle democracy, trading the will of the people for the wishes of one person."

Media editorials

See also: 2020 ballot measure media endorsements

Support

Ballotpedia did not identify any media editorials in support of Amendment 1. If you are aware of one, please send an email with a link to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Opposition

• Daily Mountain Eagle: "The amendment would take away the right of citizens of our state to vote for their own school board members in favor of allowing lawmakers, especially the governor, to have all of that power. While lawmakers may have the best of intentions with this bill, we cannot support an amendment to take that voting power away from the citizenry."

Statements from members of the board

Following are statements from members of the Board of Education regarding the amendment:

• Board member Dr. Wayne Reynolds said he would take legal action if Amendment 1 is approved. Reynolds said, "If I’m a constitutional officer elected to serve through 2022, and there’s a constitutional amendment that says I’m removed, and the Governor chooses not to appoint me, that is a point that I would litigate."

• Stephanie Bell of Montgomery, the board's longest-serving member first elected in 1994, said, "Any time the voters have an opportunity to actually select their representatives, I think we need to preserve that because representation is a part of our government. And that's what makes it great in terms of parents, teachers, those who I receive calls from on a daily basis, emails. There is merit to having representation where you actually have the opportunity to vote for your representative and we must preserve that." Bell also said, "I think there will be chaos as a result [of Amendment 1]. And if you think we already have problems in education, they’re going to be much greater."

• Board member Jackie Zeigler of Mobile said, "I think it's working because daily I get emails, I get phone calls, I get texts where people know that I am their voice to the state department, where I can either guide them in the right direction, maybe give them an idea of how the process works, or even sometimes I have to give them bad news that this is the way reality is. But at least they know I'm there and I'm available to them. I am only accountable to the citizens of the state of Alabama but most importantly to students. If I was appointed, I would be more inclined to keep the person who appointed me happy, not necessarily the citizens of Alabama and the students. And I'm very strong in my commitment in letting people know that we cannot take away their voice."

• Board member Cynthia McCarty of Anniston said, "We have a lot of challenges, clearly, in Alabama. But I think that we represent our constituents, our educators, our students, well. Are we perfect? No. I don't know of any board that's perfect. But I really do trust democracy. I trust the voters."

• Board member Tracie West said, "Just because a board is appointed does not mean it's going to be successful and effective. Just because a board is elected does not mean that it is going to be successful and effective. I think that there are many other factors involved other than just being an appointed board."

• Board member Jeff Newman of Millport said, "I'm always about protecting the vote, protecting the vote. I love the governor. I think she's doing a great job. But I am about the people to vote. I like electing their representatives. But I have a lot of confidence in the people and whatever the people decide is what they decide."

• Board member Yvette Richardson of Fairfield said, "I have seven counties and 14 school districts and I try to get out to my school districts and visit. And, as it stands now, the fact that I am elected, I feel that they know that I'm held accountable to them. However, as an appointed person, I don't know if a person would have perhaps that allegiance to a group as if they are elected. Because if you're elected, you know that if the people don't vote for you, you won't get in that position."

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls and 2020 ballot measure polls

Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy conducted a poll of 625 registered voters from February 4-6, 2020, asking respondents how they would vote on Amendment 1 if the election were held that day. Results are below.

Alabama Amendment 1, Appointed Education Board Amendment (March 2020)
Poll	Yes- approve	No- reject	Undecided	Margin of error	Sample size
Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategies poll 2/4/2020-2/6/2020	38%	41%	28%	+/-4	625
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for Alabama ballot measures

Ballotpedia identified one committee registered to support Amendment 1: Yes for the Best Education Committee. The committee reported $476,500.00 in contributions and $498,165.04 in expenditures, according to reports that covered through June 30, 2020.

No committees registered in opposition to the measure.

	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions	Cash Expenditures	Total Expenditures
Support	$476,500.00	$0.00	$476,500.00	$498,165.04	$498,165.04
Oppose	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Total	$476,500.00	$0.00	$476,500.00	$498,165.04	$498,165.04

Support

Committees in support of Amendment 1
Committee	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions	Cash Expenditures	Total Expenditures
Yes for the Best Education Committee	$476,500.00	$0.00	$476,500.00	$498,165.04	$498,165.04
Total	$476,500.00	$0.00	$476,500.00	$498,165.04	$498,165.04

Top donors

The following are donors who contributed $25,000 or more to the support committee. Together, the top seven donors contributed 78.77% of the funds in support of the amendment. Ballotpedia generally provides the top three donors for a ballot measure campaign. In this case, the fifth, sixth, and seventh top donors were all tied with $25,000 in contributions.

Donor	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions
Alabama Farmers Federation	$100,000.00	$0.00	$100,000.00
Great Southern Wood Preserving Inc	$100,000.00	$0.00	$100,000.00
Alabama Association of Realtors, Inc.	$50,000.00	$0.00	$50,000.00
Manufacture Alabama	$50,000.00	$0.00	$50,000.00
Alabama Forestry Association	$25,000.00	$0.00	$25,000.00
Cunningham Bounds LLC	$25,000.00	$0.00	$25,000.00
Protective Life Corporation	$25,000.00	$0.00	$25,000.00

Methodology

To read Ballotpedia's methodology for covering ballot measure campaign finance information, click here.

Background

Alabama State Board of Education

See also: Alabama State Board of Education

Going into the election, the Alabama State Board of Education was an elected executive agency of the Alabama state government, responsible for managing the state's public K-12 education. Going into the election, the board's mission was "To provide a state system of education which is committed to academic excellence and which provides education of the highest quality to all Alabama students, preparing them for the 21st century." As of 2020, the board was composed of nine members, including the governor, who also served as the president of the board. The other members were elected to four-year terms by voters in one of the state's eight education districts, all of which are similar in population. Elections to the board were staggered, with Districts 1, 3, 5, and 7 holding elections in presidential election years, while Districts 2, 4, 6, and 8 hold elections in midterm years. The board annually elected a vice president and a president pro tempore from among its elected members. As of 2020, the board was responsible for appointing a superintendent of education and adopting courses of study and learning standards for each subject area, including what textbooks will be used. The board also approved university and college teacher preparation and certification programs.

The 2019-2020 members of the board were:

• President: Kay Ivey (R)
• Vice President: Stephanie Bell (R) - District 3
• President pro tempore: Cynthia Sanders McCarty (R) - District 6
• Jackie Zeigler (R) - District 1
• Tracie West (R) - District 2
• Yvette Richardson (D) - District 4
• Ella Bell (D) - District 5
• Jeffrey Newman (R) - District 7
• Wayne Reynolds (R) - District 8

State boards of education by state

Selection methods

The map below shows the selection methods of state boards of education for each state. Hover over each state for more details.

In a majority of states, (26 of 50) members of the state board of education are appointed by the governor and approved by either the state senate, the full state legislature, or, in the case of New Hampshire, approved by the Executive Council. In six other states, members are appointed by the governor but not subject to confirmation. Six states including Alabama use partisan elections. Two states and Washington, D.C. use nonpartisan elections. Seven states use a combination of appointment and election. Minnesota and Wisconsin do not have a state board of education.

Student members on state boards of education

The map below shows whether or not a state includes a student member on the board of education.

Senate Bill 398

Amendment 1 was designed to direct the governor to ensure that members of the commission "reflect the geographical, gender, and racial diversity of the students enrolled in public K-12 education in the state." A related statutory bill, Senate Bill 398, was designed to require the governor to consult with the membership of minority caucuses in the Legislature when appointing minority members to the Commission. SB 398 was contingent on the passage of the constitutional amendment.

Referred amendments on the ballot

From 1996 through 2018, the state legislature referred 95 constitutional amendments to the ballot. All but six of the amendments appeared on the ballot during even-numbered years. From 1998 to 2018, the number of measures on the statewide ballot during even-numbered years ranged from four to 15. Of the 89 measures that appeared on the ballot during even-numbered years, voters approved 81% (72 of 89) of the amendments and rejected the other 19% (17 of 89).

Legislatively-referred constitutional amendments, 1998-2018 (even-numbered years)
Total number	Approved	Percent approved	Defeated	Percent defeated	Annual average	Annual median	Annual minimum	Annual maximum
89	72	81%	17	19%	8	6	4	15

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the Alabama Constitution

In Alabama, a 60 percent vote is needed in each chamber of the Alabama State Legislature to refer a constitutional amendment to the ballot for voter consideration.

The amendment was introduced by Sen. Del Marsh (R-12) as Senate Bill 397 (SB 397) during the 2019 legislative session. On May 16, 2019, the Alabama State Senate approved SB 397, with 30 members supporting the amendment and five members not voting. On May 31, 2019, the bill was passed by the House in a vote of 78-21 with five members not voting.

Vote in the Alabama State Senate May 16, 2019
Requirement: Three-fifths (60 percent) vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 21  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	30	0	5
Total percent	85.71%	0.00%	14.29%
Democrat	5	0	3
Republican	25	0	2

Vote in the Alabama House of Representatives May 31, 2019
Requirement: Three-fifths (60 percent) vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 63  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	78	21	5
Total percent	75.00%	20.19%	4.81%
Democrat	8	18	2
Republican	70	3	3

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in Alabama

Click "Show" to learn more about voter registration, identification requirements, and poll times in Alabama.

How to cast a vote in Alabama

The information below covers regular voting policies in the state. Information may have not applied to the election on November 3, 2020, because of temporary changes in response to coronavirus. Click here to read about changes made for the 2020 elections. Poll times In Alabama, polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. According to state law, "All polling places in areas operating on eastern time shall open and close under this section pursuant to eastern time except the county commissions in Chambers County and Lee County may by resolution provide for any polling place to be excluded from this sentence and to be open according to central time." An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote. Registration requirements Check your voter registration status here. Alabama requires that an applicant be a citizen of the United States who resides in Alabama. A voter must be at least 18 years old on or before Election Day. A citizen cannot have been barred from registering due to a felony conviction and cannot have been declared mentally incompetent by a court. Voters cannot register during the 14-day period preceding an election. According to the Alabama Secretary of State's website: “ You may download the State of Alabama Postcard Voter Registration Application from this site. The form can be printed on your printer, filled out, and then mailed into your local voter registration officials. Click here for more information. You may also request a postcard voter registration from this office by e-mail. Click here to request a voter registration form. Voter registration is also available from your local County Board of Registrars. Click here to get the address and phone number for the board of registrars office in your county. You may also obtain voter registration services at the following state and local government offices and agencies: Driver's licensing office County and select municipal public libraries Department of Human Resources WIC Program, Department of Public Health Medicaid Agency Department of Rehabilitation Services The postcard voter registration form is also available at: Public 4-year universities Select private 4-year universities Driver's licensing office County and select municipal public libraries Department of Human Resources WIC Program, Department of Public Health Medicaid Agency Department of Rehabilitation Services ” Automatic registration Alabama does not practice automatic voter registration. Online registration See also: Online voter registration Alabama has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website. Same-day registration Alabama does not allow same-day voter registration. Residency requirements To register to vote in Alabama, you must be a resident of the state. State law does not specify a length of time for which you must have been a resident to be eligible. Verification of citizenship See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States An Alabama state law, passed in 2011, requires people to provide proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote. However, as of June 2025, the law had not been implemented. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states cannot require proof of citizenship with federal registration forms. That meant states would need to create a separate registration system for state elections in order to require proof of citizenship. Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill (R) said the following: "That’s an election administration nightmare ... You’d have to have two sets of poll books, one for federal elections and one for state elections, and that just doesn’t make any sense to me." An individual applying to register to vote must attest that they are a U.S. citizen under penalty of perjury. All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment. Seven states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Wyoming — have laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration, whether in effect or not. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allows noncitizens to vote in some local elections. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters. Verifying your registration The Alabama Secretary of State's Voter View website allows residents to check their voter registration status online. Voter ID requirements

See also

2020 measures

• 2020 ballot measures
• Education on the ballot

Alabama

• Alabama ballot measures
• Alabama ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• Senate Bill 397 full text