February 19, 2005

The amount of money Arizona taxpayers have to spend to teach English to immigrant students will be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

State lawmakers are asking a federal judge for a bit more time to comply w ith his order to fund programs to teach English.

May 13, 2005

The attorney representing parents in the state English learner lawsuit asked a federal judge Friday to rule the $40.6 million lawmakers appropriated last month is not enough.

State legislative leaders made a mistake last week by immediately appealing the latest ruling from a federal judge that Arizona has to spend more money to teach English to students of immigrant families.

February 28, 2005

Two federal investigations have found that Arizona is violating the civil rights of some students who are not native English speakers by denying them access to special programs for English learners.

Gov. Janet Napolitano has appointed the Scottsdale Unified School District’s superintendent to a task force charged with developing a English learner curriculum.

Gov. Janet Napolitano has appointed the Scottsdale Unified School District’s superintendent to a task force charged with developing a English learner curriculum.

When students return to school this month, many of their grade levels will be separated by language ability.

A federal judge is refusing to delay the next round of a hearing on whether Arizona school programs for students learning English now comply with federal mandates on equal opportunities in education.

National assessments of educational quality usually offer a long scolding session for Arizona — not enough money is spent, test scores are too low, not enough children graduating from high school or going on to college.

Gov. Jan Brewer is threatening to try to strip Attorney General Terry Goddard of some of his legal authority because he won’t take her side in the U.S. Supreme Court dispute over the state’s funding of English learner programs.

Republican legislative leaders decided Thursday to appeal a federal court ruling that Arizona still isn’t complying with laws to ensure all students have the opportunity to learn English.

Supreme Court justices expressed some skepticism Monday over whether Arizona lawmakers have done enough to absolve the state of further obligations to help students learn English.

Gov. Janet Napolitano on Friday said she is letting the latest proposal to fund English learner programs become law despite her belief the plan doesn’t go far enough to teach children struggling with the language. Her move leaves it in the hands of a federal judge in Tucson whom Napolitano is hoping will reject the plan and send it back to the state Legislature.

The Legislature has hired an attorney best known for his role in the impeachment of Bill Clinton over his relationship with Monica Lewinsky to argue to the U.S. Supreme Court the state should not have to spend any more money than it does now to teach English to students who aren’t proficient in the language.

Arizona schools should not be allowed to avoid enrolling all their English learners into special immersion courses this coming year while the adequacy of funding is debated, state schools chief Tom Horne said Thursday.

Lucie Monell’s free English class for immigrant mothers at the Mesa Royal Trailer Park attracted 20 people last year.

Arizona can’t limit additional aid to students to reduce their English learning curriculum to just two years, a federal appeals court affirmed Thursday.

Arizona faces fines yet again and lawmakers could be forced into a special session because they didn’t obey a judge’s order to fix programs for students struggling to learn English.

Eighteen students sit in Rachel Mangum’s classroom at Desert Shadows Middle School, practicing new vocabulary words to describe how to protect the environment.

An attorney seeking more funds to help students learn English charges that a program designed to teach them is illegal.