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ELL model will cost Arizona $358 million

By dmc-admin

Published: January 24, 2008 at 1:00 am

More than 100 school superintendents from across Arizona gathered at the Capitol Jan. 23 to present the estimated cost of the English Language Learners program — and to ask the Legislature to pay for it.
School administrators estimate that the ELL model presented by a Legislature-appointed task force will cost $2,741 per student, a total of more than $358 million.
“We want to make sure there’s funding available, because we are going to implement the law,” said Apache Junction School District Superintendent Greg Wyman. “(The Legislature) gave us the program, and we’re now giving you what the costs are. At this point in time, all we’re asking for is that the Legislature fund the program.”
The Legislature passed the English Language Learners law in 2006, which established a task force to develop a model for the schools to adopt. The task force created the model last September, and school districts will be required to implement it in the fall 2008 school year.
“We understand the budget crisis in the state of Arizona,” Wyman said, “but we’re stuck between a rock and a hard place.”
Mesa School District Superintendent Debra Duvall said that to implement the model recommended by the task force, the Mesa school district will have to hire 100 additional qualified teachers.
“It’s time to unravel all the legal knots that my colleagues and I have been … tied with,” Duvall said.
The superintendents pointed out that the program applies to each student whose primary language is something other than English, and that it does not affect only Spanish-speakers.
“This is not an immigration issue,” Wyman said. “This is about English-language development, and that’s all it is about.”
Despite concerns about the cost, the superintendents said they support the program’s goals.
“We are in favor of helping our children learn how to speak and learn in English,” said Mark Tregaskes, superintendent of the Safford Unified School District.
“We desperately want that,” he said.

ARIZONA LEGISLATIVE REPORT

ELL model will cost Arizona $358 million

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