ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Forty-seventh Legislature, Second Regular Session
FINAL AMENDED
FACT SHEET FOR H.B. 2064
eminent domain; fees and costs
(NOW: English language learners)
Purpose
An emergency measure that appropriates $2.6 million in FY 2005-2006 and $31.4 million in FY 2006-2007 from the state General Fund for English Language Learner (ELL) programs; creates the nine-member Arizona English Language Learners Task Force to develop and adopt research based models of Structured English Immersion (SEI); requires school districts and charter schools to submit budget requests for the newly created Arizona Structured English Immersion Fund and the Statewide Compensatory Instruction Fund (SCIF).
Background
In 1992, Flores v. State of Arizona was filed in federal court. The lawsuit was brought forth by parents of children enrolled in the Nogales Unified School District. The plaintiffs alleged that the civil rights of Limited English Proficient (LEP) students were violated because the state failed to provide adequate language acquisition, academic instructional programs and funding for at-risk students. Plaintiffs argued that the state’s failure regarding LEP programs was a violation of the federal Equal Educational Opportunities Act (EEOA). The case went to trial on August 1999.
In January 2000, the Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and declared Arizona’s LEP programs in violation of the EEOA. In August 2000, the parties entered into a consent decree that met the Court’s concern regarding program adequacy and nonresource issues. The question of funding adequacy was not addressed in the consent order. In October 2000, the Court ordered the state to conduct a cost study to determine the amount needed to conduct a successful LEP program.
Concurrently, the voters approved Proposition 203 in November 2000. Proposition 203 repealed existing bilingual education laws and changed the law to require that all classes be taught in English except that pupils who are classified as ELL, previously LEP, would be educated separately through SEI for a period not to exceed a year.
In May of 2001, the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) released a cost study that identified per-pupil costs in the sampled immersion programs. In June of 2001, the Court ordered the state to comply with an adequate ELL funding scheme by the end of any special session convened by the Legislature prior to January 31, 2002. During a special session in December of 2001, the Legislature increased the ELL Group B weight to reflect an increase from approximately $179 per pupil to $340, and provided additional monies for teacher training, compensatory instruction, instructional materials, monitoring, teacher bonuses, a K-3 literacy program and another cost study.
The Court set the deadline of the end of the 2005 legislative session for legislation to comply with the judgment. In May of 2005, the Legislature passed H.B. 2718; however, the bill was vetoed. In response to plaintiffs’ motions for sanctions in December of 2005, the Court ordered financial penalties imposed against the state in the form of progressive daily fines until the state complied with the Court judgment. In addition, the Court excluded ELL from the Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) graduation requirement.
On January 24, 2006, S.B. 1198 was passed by the Legislature and vetoed. On January 25, 2006, H.B. 2002 was passed by the Legislature and vetoed.
H.B. 2064 includes the following appropriations from the state General Fund:
|
|
FY 2006 |
FY 2007 |
|
SCIF Fund |
$ 0 |
$10,000,000 |
|
ADE |
$2,555,000 |
$ 4,610,000 |
|
Auditor General |
$ 0 |
$ 2,500,000 |
|
ELL Assistance |
$ 0 |
$14,300,000 |
|
|
$2,555,000 |
$31,410,000 |
Provisions
Assessment and Classification
1. Replaces current statute relating to ELL programs.
2. Requires the primary or home language for all new pupils who enroll in a school district or charter school to be identified in a manner prescribed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI).
3. Requires the English proficiency of all pupils with a primary or home language other than English be assessed through English language proficiency exams through a process prescribed by the SPI. States that test scores adopted to indicate English language proficiency be based on publishers’ designated scores. Prescribes that ADE must annually request an appropriation to pay for the purchase of all language proficiency exams, scoring and ancillary materials for school districts and charter schools.
4. Declares that a pupil must be classified as ELL and be enrolled in English immersion, bilingual education or any other generally recognized education methodology permitted by law if it is determined that the pupil is not English language proficient.
Arizona English Language Learners Task Force
5. Creates a nine-member Arizona English Language Learners Task Force (Task Force), consisting of two members appointed by the Governor, two members appointed by the President of the Senate, two members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and three members appointed by the SPI, each serving four-year terms. ADE must provide adequate staff support for the Task Force.
6. Mandates that the Task Force must do the following related to SEI models:
a) develop and adopt research-based SEI models for school districts and charter schools by September 1, 2006, limited to programs that are not normally intended to exceed one year of pupil participation. The models shall take into consideration specified school factors, and must be the most cost-efficient models of SEI that meet all federal and state laws. Additionally, the models shall include a minimum amount of English language development and distinguish first year pupil programs, for which a minimum of four hours must be designated for English language development.
b) submit the research based SEI models to the Legislature, Governor and the State Board of Education (SBE).
c) submit models to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) for review 30 days prior to adoption.
d) review research-based SEI models once every five years.
e) establish procedures for school districts and charter schools to determine incremental costs for implementation of research based SEI models.
7. Limits Task Force adopted SEI models to a regular school year and school day. Stipulates that any instruction can be provided outside of the regular school year or school day and qualifies for funding from the SCIF.
8. Directs the Task Force to create a budget form to be used by school districts and charter schools to request funding from the Arizona Structured English Immersion Fund for the incremental costs of the SEI model selected. Requires the maximum amount of the budget request to be the incremental costs of the model offset by the Group B ELL weight amount of approximately $432, all federal Title III monies and other federal monies designated solely for ELL, the portion of Title I and Title II monies determined by the English language population as a percentage of the qualified population and a portion of desegregation and impact aid monies as determined by the English language learner population as a percentage of the qualified population.
9. Prohibits a school district or charter school to apply unexpended impact aid monies to ELL programs until other allowable uses in law have been fulfilled.
10. Prohibits school districts and charter schools, beginning July 15, 2008, from including the incremental costs of any pupil classified as ELL after July 1, 2007, who has been classified as ELL for more than two years.
11. Prescribes that in consultation with the Auditor General, ADE shall develop and adopt the forms needed by school districts and charter schools to submit budget requests for the Arizona Structured English Immersion Fund.
SEI Budget Request
12. Requires each school district governing board and governing body of a charter school select one or more of the Task Force approved SEI models for school by school implementation.
13. Allows for school districts and charter schools to propose an alternate model contingent on the full or limited approval or rejection by the Task Force. Specifies that if the Task Force rejects the proposal, another model must be approved by the Task Force and adopted by the school district.
14. Stipulates for a school district or charter school that qualifies for supplemental monies from the Arizona Structured English Immersion Fund, a signed budget request by the superintendent and chief financial officer of the school district or the principal and chief financial officer of the charter school must be submitted on a school by school basis certifying the accuracy of the information contained and that the monies from the fund would not supplant federal, state or local monies used for ELL, including desegregation monies that were budgeted as of February 23, 2006.
15. Specifies that beginning July 1, 2007, the SEI budget requests must be submitted to ADE on or before September 15 for verification of accuracy and compliance for submittal by ADE to the Legislature at the same time as ADE’s budget request.
Arizona Structured English Immersion Fund
16. Establishes the Arizona Structured English Immersion Fund administered by ADE. ADE must annually request an appropriation to fulfill the purposes of the fund. ADE must distribute monies in the fund to school districts and charter schools in an amount in the SEI budget request, for a period not to exceed two fiscal years for the same pupil.
17. Requires the SPI to attempt to obtain the maximum amount of federal funding available for ELL programs.
18. Requires school districts and charter schools to create a local Structured English Immersion Fund for receipt of monies from the Arizona Structured English Immersion Fund that can only be spent to provide instruction to ELL.
19. Directs the Auditor General, in consultation with ADE, to modify existing budget, financial and accounting reporting forms to comply with the creation of the Arizona Structured English Immersion Fund and submit these updated documents to the Task Force and JLBC for review.
20. States that any monies received through the Arizona Structured English Immersion Fund should be used to supplement existing programs and cannot supplant any federal, state or local monies, including desegregation monies that were budgeted as of February 23, 2006, for use by ELL or be used to supplant existing monies that pay for normal costs of conducting programs for English proficient students.
Reassessing ELLs
21. Requires ELLs to be reassessed for the purpose of determining English language proficiency at least annually at the end of each school year through a process prescribed by the SPI.
22. States that a pupil who scores at or above the test publisher’s designated score for English proficiency must be reclassified as English proficient. After reclassification, the pupil must be transferred to English language mainstream classrooms.
Former ELL monitoring
23. Requires the English language proficiency of each pupil previously classified as an ELL within the last two years to be tested annually at the end of the school year in the same manner as initial assessment with the method of reevaluation prescribed by the SPI. If it is determined that the pupil is not English language proficient in the two years following the pupil’s exit from SEI, the pupil must be classified as an ELL and be enrolled in SEI, subject to parental consent, and may be provided compensatory instruction.
ADE Duties
24. Codifies the duties of the ADE Office of English Language Acquisition Services to:
a) develop guidelines for the monitoring of school districts and charter schools for the purpose of ensuring compliance with all federal and state laws regarding ELLs.
b) in consultation with county school superintendents, develop regional programs to enhance all aspects of professional development training for teachers and administrators.
c) publish ELL policy guidelines that include a list of relevant rules, regulations and statutes relating to ELL programs to notify school districts and charter schools of their responsibilities.
d) provide technical assistance to school district and charter schools for SEI programs.
25. Requires the ADE Office of English Language Acquisition Services to choose and monitor annually:
a) twelve school districts or charter schools chosen from the 50 school districts or charter schools with the highest number of ELL pupils resulting in monitoring each of the 50 school districts and charter schools every four years.
b) ten school districts or charter schools that are not in the 50 school districts or charter schools with the highest number of ELL pupils.
c) ten school districts or charter schools that are not required to offer instruction for ELL pupils for the majority of their grade levels.
d) a random sample of 300 ELL pupils to determine how many can read a randomly ordered alphabet in 30 seconds or less or a randomly sorted list of 30 single-syllable words in one minute or less.
26. Directs ADE to conduct on-site monitoring to include classroom observations, curriculum and program reviews, faculty interviews and student records and prepare a report within 45 days. The review should include programmatic effectiveness with a minimum of prior year ELL progress data.
27. Details the process in which school districts and charter schools and ADE must act if deficiencies are found:
a) within 60 days of report issuance, the school district or charter school must submit a corrective action plan.
b) within 30 days of receiving the correction action plan, ADE must review the plan, make changes and return the revised corrective action plan to the school district or charter school.
c) within 30 days of receiving the revised plan, the school district or charter school must implement the plan.
d) within one year after the plan is returned to the school district or charter school, ADE must conduct a follow-up evaluation. If any deficiencies are found, the school district or charter school will be referred to SBE for a finding of noncompliance.
e) if a school is found noncompliant by SBE, Arizona Structured English Immersion Fund monies will be withheld; however, school districts and charter schools will not be able to reduce the amount of monies spent on ELL prior to the noncompliance finding.
f) ADE will monitor noncompliant school districts and charter schools to ensure that no reduction of monies spent on ELL prior to the noncompliance finding occurred.
28. Requires the ADE Office of English Acquisition Services to:
a) collect each school district and charter school’s annually submitted report to ADE that includes the following information identified by grade level and by school:
i) the total number of pupils classified as ELLs as verified by the Student Accountability Information System (SAIS).
ii) the number of pupils who are classified as ELLs for the first time as verified by the SAIS system.
iii) the number of ELLs who achieved English proficiency in the past academic year and who have been reclassified as English proficient as verified by the SAIS system.
iv) the number of pupils who are enrolled in each type of language acquisition program offered by the school district or charter school.
v) if requested by ADE, the test data used to determine English proficiency.
b) determine the mobility of ELL within the same school district and the mobility of ELL to other school districts and charter schools.
c) submit an annual report to JLBC, the Secretary of State and the Director of the State Library, Archives and Public Records that includes an itemized list of all federal monies received by ADE for ELL, the purposes for which these federal monies are designated and a list of how much was distributed to school districts on a district by district basis.
d) submit an annual report to the Governor, the Legislature, SBE, the Secretary of State and the Director of the State Library, Archives and Public Records that includes a detailed analysis of whether and to what extent pupils are benefiting academically from compensatory instruction and a comparison of the academic achievement of pupils before and after receiving compensatory instruction.
Auditor General Duties
29. Requires the Auditor General to:
a) modify the school district annual financial report in order to carry out these provisions.
b) biennially audit the overall effectiveness of the ELL program based on performance based outcome measurements and increased English proficiency.
c) review the mobility of English proficient students and ELL.
d) conduct new financial audits of the schools monitored by ADE to include review of the monies received from the SEI Fund and the SCIF.
e) include in performance audits currently performed whether school districts that received monies from the Arizona Structured English Immersion Fund or SCIF are in compliance with ELL state statutes.
f)
Teacher Training
30. Requires SBE to determine the qualifications necessary for a provisional and full SEI endorsement.
31. Allows teacher training not provided by a college or university to substitute for any course required for an SEI or bilingual education endorsement if:
a) SBE has reviewed the curriculum, textbooks, grading procedures and attendance policies and determined that the training is comparable in amount, scope and quality to a course offered by a college or university for an SEI or bilingual education endorsement.
b) the training meets the professional teaching standards adopted by SBE.
c) SBE has reviewed the qualifications of the instructor and determined that the instructor has sufficient experience to effectively conduct the training.
32. Directs SBE to require all approved teacher training programs that provide a degree in education to provide courses necessary to obtain a full SEI endorsement.
Statewide Compensatory Instruction Fund
33. Establishes the SCIF administered by ADE. ADE must distribute monies in the SCIF to school districts and charter schools in an amount determined by ADE for compensatory instruction costs. The state is not required to make payments to a school district or charter school for insufficient monies in the SCIF. ADE must prorate if there are insufficient monies.
34. Stipulates that school districts and charter schools may receive SCIF monies for more than two fiscal years for the same pupil.
35. Requires that a school district demonstrate that it has established a satisfactory compensation instruction program in order to be eligible for monies in SCIF.
36. Requires school districts and charter schools to annually submit SCIF budget requests on or before July 15 signed by the superintendent and chief financial officer of a school district or the principal and chief financial officer of a charter school.
37. States that any monies received through SCIF should supplement existing programs and cannot supplant any federal, state or local monies including desegregation monies used for compensatory instruction, that were budgeted as of February 23, 2006.
38. Requires school districts and charter schools to create a local Structured English Immersion Fund for receipt of monies from SCIF that can only be spent to provide instruction to ELL. Directs the Auditor General, in consultation with ADE, to modify existing budget, financial and accounting reporting forms to comply with the creation of SCIF and submit these updated documents to the Task Force and JLBC for review.
39. Defines “compensatory instruction” as programs, in addition to normal classroom instruction, that include individual and group tutoring, extended day classes, summer school or intersession school and that are limited to improving the English proficiency of current and former ELL pupils who have been reclassified as English proficient within the previous two years.
Appropriations
40. Appropriates $14,300,000 from the state General Fund in FY 2006-2007 to ADE for the Group B ELL weight increase, resulting in total Group B ELL funding of approximately $432 per pupil.
41. Appropriates $10,000,000 from the state General Fund in FY 2006-2007 to ADE to distribute to school districts and charter schools from the SCIF. This appropriation is exempt from lapsing.
42. Appropriates $2,555,000 from the state General Fund in FY 2005-2006 for the statutory purposes established for the ADE Office of English Language Acquisition Services and for the costs of providing English language proficiency tests to school districts and charter schools. ADE may hire staff or contract with a third party for these purposes. Adds that a portion of these monies may be expended for legal defense of the Flores v. State of Arizona lawsuit. This appropriation is exempt from lapsing.
43. Appropriates $4,610,000 from the state General Fund in FY 2006-2007 to ADE for the statutory purposes established for the ADE Office of English Language Acquisition Services and the costs of providing English language proficiency tests to school districts and charter schools for these purposes. ADE may also hire staff or contract with a third party for these purposes. Adds that a portion of these monies may be expended for legal defense of the Flores v. State of Arizona lawsuit. This appropriation is exempt from lapsing.
44. Appropriates $2,500,000 from the state General Fund in FY 2006-2007 to the Auditor General for specified auditing purposes. This appropriation is exempt from lapsing.
Miscellaneous
45. Requires that test results used to determine English proficiency, reassessment and reevaluation of ELL be used in determining a school’s achievement profile for the purposes of school accountability.
46. Declares that the new sections relating to English language education do not relieve school districts and charter schools from ensuring that they are in compliance with the requirements of federal and state law.
47. Contains a legislative intent section.
48. Increases the Group B ELL weight from .115 to .140 in FY 2006-2007, but limits the distribution of the Group B ELL weight by ADE to no more than two fiscal years per pupil.
49. Sets the FY 2006-2007 deadline for the SCIF budget request on or before December 1, 2006, and the SEI budget request deadline for FY 2006-2007 on or before July 15, 2006.
50. Sets a conditional enactment for the Group B ELL weight amount of approximately $432 per pupil in FY 2006-2007 contingent upon Court judgment that the state has taken appropriate action to address the Flores v. State case and permits the program to become fully implemented to ascertain whether the available funding and resulting ELL plans bear a relationship to the cost of implementing appropriate language acquisition programs.
51. Makes technical and conforming changes.
52. Becomes effective on signature of the Governor, if the emergency clause is enacted.
Amendments Adopted by Appropriations Committee
· Adopted the strike everything amendment.
Amendments Adopted by Conference Committee
1. Reduces the number of gubernatorial appointments and adds new appointments by the SPI to the Task Force.
2. Eliminates the ELL assistance mount, instead increases the Group B ELL weight in FY 2006-2007.
3. Modifies the appropriation amount for the Group B ELL weight in FY 2006-2007 to reflect the increased amount needed from FY 2005-2006.
4. Adds Title II and III programs and impact aid monies as offsets to the budget request for the Arizona Structured English Immersion Fund.
Senate Action House Action
APPROP 2/23/06 DPA/SE 7-4-0-0 FMPR 1/9/06 DPA 5-1-0-0
3rd Read 2/23/06 16-14-0-0 3rd Read 2/13/06 33-24-3-0
Final Read 3/2/06 16-13-1-0 Final Read 2/27/06 31-27-2-0
Without Governor’s signature 3/3/06
Chapter 4
Prepared by Senate Research
May 18, 2006
DN/jas