HCR2026 - 541R

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of Arizona, the Senate concurring:

1. Under the power of the referendum, as vested in the Legislature, the following measure, relating to English language education for children in public schools, is enacted to become valid as a law if approved by the voters and on proclamation of the Governor:

AN ACT

repealing sections 15-751, 15-752, 15-753, 15-754 and 15-755, Arizona Revised Statutes; amending sections 15-756 and 15‑756.01, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to english language education for children in public schools.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Repeal

Sections 15-751, 15-752, 15-753, 15-754 and 15-755, Arizona Revised Statutes, are repealed.

Sec. 2. Section 15-756, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE15-756. Identification of English language learners

A. The primary or home language for all new pupils who enroll in a school district or charter school shall be identified in a manner prescribed by the superintendent of public instruction.

B. The English language proficiency of all pupils with a primary or home language other than English shall be assessed through the administration of English language proficiency assessments in a manner prescribed by the superintendent of public instruction. The test scores adopted by the superintendent as indicating English language proficiency shall be based on the test publishers' designated scores. The department shall annually request an appropriation to pay for the purchase of all language proficiency assessments, and scoring and ancillary materials as prescribed by the department for school districts and charter schools.

C. If it is determined that a pupil is not English language proficient, the pupil shall be classified as an English language learner and shall be enrolled in an English language education program pursuant to section 15‑752 or 15‑753.

D. Each public school in this state shall ensure that all English language learners:

1. Receive the highest quality of education.

2. Master the English language.

3. Access high quality, innovative research-based language programs. END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. Section 15-756.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE15-756.01. State board of education; research based models of structured English immersion for English language learners; budget requests; definitions

A. The state board of education shall either use research based research-based models of structured English immersion programs that were previously developed and adopted by the English language learners task force or develop and adopt new research based research-based models of structured English immersion programs for use by school districts and charter schools. The department of education shall provide adequate staff support for the state board of education to comply with this article. The models shall take into consideration at least the size of the school, the location of the school, the grade levels at the school, the number of English language learners and the percentage of English language learners. The models shall be limited to programs for English language learners to participate in a structured English immersion program not normally intended to exceed one year. The state board of education shall identify the minimum amount of English language development per day for all models. The state board of education shall develop separate models for the first year in which a pupil is classified as an English language learner that include a minimum of four hours per day of English language development.

B. The research based research-based models of structured English immersion adopted by the state board of education shall be the most cost‑efficient models that meet all state and federal laws.

C. The research based research-based models of structured English immersion shall be limited to a regular school year and school day. Instruction outside the regular school year or school day shall be provided with compensatory instruction and may be eligible for funding from the statewide compensatory instruction fund established by section 15‑756.11.

D. The research based research-based models of structured English immersion shall be submitted by the state board of education to the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the governor and the state board of education. At least thirty days before adoption, the state board of education shall submit the research based research-based models of structured English immersion to the joint legislative budget committee for review.

E. The state board of education shall review research based research-based models of structured English immersion annually and delete from, add to or modify the existing models. When adopting or modifying English language learner programs, the state board of education shall review and consider the information and data obtained as a result of the department of education's monitoring of English language learner programs pursuant to section 15‑756.08.

F. The state board of education shall establish procedures for school districts and charter schools to determine the incremental costs for implementation of the research based research-based models of structured English immersion developed by the state board of education.

G. The state board of education shall establish a form for school districts and charter schools to determine the structured English immersion budget request amount. Notwithstanding any other law, the maximum amount of the budget request shall be the incremental costs of the model selected offset by the following monies:

1. All federal title III monies and any other federal monies designated solely for the educational needs of English language learners.

2. The portion of title I and title IIA monies determined by the English language learner population as a percentage of the qualified population.

3. The portion of impact aid monies determined by the English language learner population as a percentage of the qualified population. A school district or charter school shall only apply unexpended impact aid monies to English language learner programs after it has applied its impact aid monies for other allowable uses as permitted by state law.

4. The portion of desegregation monies levied pursuant to section 15‑910 determined by the English language learner population as a percentage of the qualified population.

5. The ELL support level weight prescribed in section 15‑943.

H. The difference calculated pursuant to subsection G of this section shall be the maximum amount of the structured English immersion budget request pursuant to section 15‑756.03 for monies from the Arizona structured English immersion fund established by section 15‑756.04. School districts and charter schools shall not include the incremental costs of any pupil who is classified as an English language learner after July 1, 2007 and who has been classified as an English language learner for more than two years in the calculation of the school district's or charter school's structured English immersion budget request.

I. In consultation with the auditor general, the department of education shall develop and adopt forms to be used by school districts and charter schools to submit budget requests for the Arizona structured English immersion fund, including the form prescribed in subsection G of this section.

J. Notwithstanding any other law, school districts and charter schools may establish dual-language immersion programs for both native and nonnative English speakers. Public schools shall provide to students effective and appropriate instructional methods to establish English language acquisition programs and shall solicit community and stakeholder input on these methods and programs.

J. K. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Compensatory instruction" has the same meaning prescribed in section 15‑756.11.

2. "Incremental costs" means costs that are associated with a structured English immersion program pursuant to section 15‑752 or a program pursuant to section 15‑753 and that are in addition to the normal costs of conducting programs for English proficient students. Incremental costs do not include costs that replace the same types of services provided to English proficient students or compensatory instruction. END_STATUTE

Sec. 4. Conforming legislation

The legislative council staff shall prepare proposed legislation conforming the Arizona Revised Statutes to the provisions of this act for consideration in the fifty-fifth legislature, first regular session.

2. The Secretary of State shall submit this proposition to the voters at the next general election as provided by article IV, part 1, section 1, Constitution of Arizona.