Arizona: Litigation could enforce English-only proposition

Public educators in Payson and around the state are often the subjects of a dissatisfied minority who question the efforts and tax money that create language acquisition programs for students with limited English fluency. A pending lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court, could give these opponents something to really crow about. Tim Hogan, of the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest, filed the motion to force Arizona into providing supplies, special tutoring and well-trained teachers for students learning English. If Hogan is successful, the legislature would be forced to provide the money schools need to educate students who are learning English. Some said that when Arizona voters overwhelming passed Proposition 203 two years ago, the "English Only" measure would ban bilingual education for children learning English as a second language. At the time the initiative passed, those working in English immersion programs at public schools rightfully contended that Proposition 203 was an exercise in micromanaging schools through the electoral process. Lisa Graham-Keegan, Arizona's superintendent of public instruction at the time, was the among the first to jump on the Proposition 203 bandwagon, saying she was going to work with all schools in the state to develop an orderly transition process to an all-English curriculum. As much as the former superintendent and other educators wanted to dictate guidelines for teaching language acquisition programs, Proposition 203 hasn't completely dismantled all bilingual options. [more]