The Alabama Legislature Wednesday gave final approval to a bill requiring children to complete kindergarten or an equivalent program after years of efforts from supporters.

sponsored by Rep. Pebblin Warren, D-Tuskegee, would require students to finish kindergarten or pass a test that shows first grade readiness.

The bill passed 35-0. It would align Alabama with a minority of states that require kindergarten. As of 2020, 19 states and the District of Columbia require kindergarten,

“I think now that we are fully implementing the Literacy Act that we need to do everything we can for these children early to give them a good foundation, so that they’re not coming into first grade already behind,” said Sen. Donnie Chesteen, R-Geneva, the chair of the Senate Education Policy committee and Senate sponsor of the bill.

Warren, who is currently in the hospital, said in a phone interview Wednesday that she was happy that it had advanced after seven years.

“This has been a battle I’ve been fighting and I’ve been fighting for the kids, because we got to find ways of making sure we can expose and educate our kids at early ages,” she said. “So we don’t have to wait until they get to the third grade to say that they can’t read.”

The bill passed after Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, a vocal opponent of the legislation in previous years, amended the legislation to create a schedule of assessments.

Under the legislation, a student entering first grade in the 2025-26 school year will not be excluded from enrollment, but will take an assessment at the start of the school year and in the second semester to determine any deficiencies and allow resources to those who perform below standards..

For the 2026-27 school year, a student will take the assessment to determine readiness for enrollment and will also take the second semester assessment with the available resources.

The State Department of Education will also develop an informational campaign with priority given to areas with the lowest numbers of kindergarten enrollment.

“I will say that I think it may be an opportunity for us to catch whatever situations that may exist on the front end,” he said.

The House of Representatives has approved the legislation multiple times, but Smitherman had blocked it in the Senate.

Warren said she has not had a chance to receive a report on the added amendment yet. She said she wished that the bill would be starting next year.

Chesteenthat the bill was a priority for the Republican caucus.

The bill had received support from the Governor’s Commission on Teaching and Learning,

Alabama lawmakers have placed more emphasis on early education in the last decade.

The Legislature in 2019 created the Literacy Act, which requires students to be reading on grade level by the end of third grade, or risk retention.

The Alabama Numeracy Act, passed in 2022, aims to increase math scores in the state.

The Legislature has also increased funding for the state’s award-winning pre-kindergarten program, which consistently receives high marks.

The bill moves to the House of Representatives for concurrence in Senate changes or a conference committee.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: info@alabamareflector.com. Follow Alabama Reflector on and .

The future of a bill that would effectively mandate kindergarten in Alabama still faces an uphill battle, even as members of a state education commission said that they support the bill.

During a Wednesday meeting of Governor’s Commission on Teaching and Learning — a group of educators, lawmakers and officials — State Superintendent Eric Mackey said the Literacy Act, if they are unable to read at grade level, has led many principals to focus on first grade.

The superintendent, in a presentation , said that some are retaining first graders if they believe they are at risk of retention later in their academic careers.

“When you get that before third grade, that’s all the better, which is why I think what we hear from our principals are doing is largely focusing on first grade,” he said.

Mackey also said that principals want to learn who’s on track in those early years, but the assessments they have do not currently track as well with the state test.

Rep. Alan Baker, R-Atmore, had also said that it was important that they focus on grades before first grade.

“And that really captures really what it’s about, that is the prevention that is identifying those students early on, early as possible,” he said. “And then providing the necessary interventions and supports all the way through and not just waiting.”

Some commission members had questions about why kindergarten was not mandatory in the state and if there was a way to make it mandatory.

Carey Wright, former Mississippi State Superintendent of Education and a member of the panel, said that Mississippi had been able to mandate mandatory attendance for those who enrolled in kindergarten.

“And that helped a lot with our kindergarten in terms of first grade readiness,” she said.

The Alabama House of Representatives last spring passed a bill known as that would have required a student to pass kindergarten or an equivalent test showing readiness for first grade. The bill passed out of a Senate committee but did not come to the Senate floor for a vote.

Sen. Donnie Chesteen, R-Geneva, said that the biggest opposition was “one senator,” as many in the room laughed.

Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, spoke multiple times in opposition to the bill. He said it felt like it would hold more students back.

Smitherman and the bill’s sponsor Pebblin Warren, D-Tuskegee, said they would discuss the bill further in the fall.

A message was left with Warren Wednesday afternoon. As of 2020, only 19 states and the District of Columbia required students to attend kindergarten, according to .

Smitherman, reached Wednesday afternoon by phone, said that his stance on the bill has not changed since the end of the legislative session. He said he is still planning to meet with Warren later this fall, though not in the next couple of weeks.

“It will be addressed, but right now, there’s no scheduled meetings at this time,” he said.

Smitherman cited concerns about the bill including retaining students and a lack of infrastructure to support the needs of first grade readiness, such as busing.

“It’s a great soundbite, and it’s a great, it’s an ambitious goal,” he said. “But we can’t help these children like we need to unless we put the proper structure, the proper resources, and have the proper instructors there.”

Supporters of the first grade readiness bill insisted during debates over the legislation that . But Brown, the Montgomery Public Schools superintendent, wondered why the state could not simply mandate kindergarten, without the extra test.

“What I’m imagining in my mind is: I’m going to get my driver’s license, and my test run is an IndyCar race,” he said. “If I crash, now, I got to go back to school to take the test. It doesn’t make a lot of sense. I want to get them on the front end.”

“Some of us agree with you,” said Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile. “At least in the House.”

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: info@alabamareflector.com. Follow Alabama Reflector on and .