Bilingual spending falls short

Court order puts state in a jam

A federal judge could cut federal funds, shut down schools or slap the state with additional taxes if Arizona doesn’t spend more to teach students who are new to English.

Despite voter approval of Proposition 203 to restrict bilingual education, the state remains under court order to help students overcome language barriers.

A report released Wednesday by Senate Democrats estimates that it would cost an additional $170 million a year to meet the court’s demands. Taxpayers now spend about $20 million on bilingual education programs. The shortfall, according to the report, could throw a wrench into the state’s fiscal forecast if a judge rules that current spending is insufficient.

Legislators are being warned to take heed.

“(Federal District Court) Judge Alfredo Marquez is clearly annoyed at the state,” Assistant Attorney General Lynne Adams said Wednesday.

“The state has been found in violation of a federal law. This judge has indicated his intolerance for the situation. The Legislature needs to appropriate money to solve this problem.”

Also on Wednesday, confusion swirled over education chief Lisa Graham Keegan’s statement earlier in the week that she would allow bilingual education to continue under some circumstances. Proponents of Proposition 203 argued that the law bans bilingual education in most cases. Keegan says requirements are more vague.

The 1992 case Flores vs. Arizona prompted the Democratic cost study. It found that current funding wasn’t enough to ensure that students overcame language barriers. The case is an extension of the Equal Education Opportunity Act of 1974, a federal law that prohibits states from denying education opportunties based on race, color, sex or national origin.

Currently, Arizona spends about $150 on every student who is classified as an “English learner.” The study says about $1,500 per student would fulfill the judge’s ruling.

There are about 125,000 bilingual students in Arizona.

Besides the language provision, the judge also criticized overcrowded classrooms, and a lack of qualified teachers and teacher aides.

Some Republicans are skeptical of the cost estimates in the Democrats’ report.

“We’ve got to get students learning English as soon as possible,” said Sen. Ken Bennett, R-Prescott and chairman of the Senate education committee.

“But I doubt that it costs another $171 million in the budget to do this.”

In October, Marquez ordered the state to do a cost study for bilingual education before the Legislature convened for their regular session on Jan. 8.

That never happened.

The Department of Education tried to put out a contract in mid-December, but there were no takers. The department is now trying to find a firm to do the cost study.

Christy Anderson, Gov. Jane Hull’s policy adviser, said the state isn’t overlooking the seriousness of the situation.

“It’s on the governor’s radar screen,” Anderson said. “It’s important to find out what dollars are already being spent on these types of programs and where the money is coming from.”

Anderson said Hull didn’t include this in the budget she released this week because she didn’t have accurate numbers.

Tim Hogan, an attorney who successfully sued the state over school-construction financing, said he’ll be watching to see if the Legislature takes care of business.

“The state will have a big problem if they continue to blow this off,” said Hogan, a public interest lawyer who worked on the Flores case. “They are establishing a record of disavowing court orders. I have to presume the state will follow the law. But if they do what they’ve done in the past, they will do nothing.”

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or (602) 444-8069.



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