MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Alabama's Republican governor says several early supporters of a school flexibility bill weren't consulted about adding tax credits for private school attendance because he knew they would oppose it.
Republicans pushed a school flexibility bill through the Legislature Thursday night after adding tax credits for parents who move their children from a failing public school to a private or parochial school. State school Superintendent Tommy Bice and the executive director of the Alabama Association of School Boards, Sally Howell, supported the original flexibility bill, but said they weren't included in the revisions. Howell said she was "bushwhacked." Bice said it will have a negative impact on public schools.
Gov. Robert Bentley called the bill the most significant piece of legislation passed in years, and he will sign it into law.
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