Amid threats to pull state funding for how Scottsdale Unified teaches English language learning students, district officials say they have been operating within in the law and what’s best for children.
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne is threatening to take state funding away from school districts that teach students learning the English language in anything but English.
The Arizona Department of Education says in school year 2021-22, there were a total of 1,029 English language learning students participating in a 50-50 dual language immersion program in 26 distinct local education agencies in Arizona. Dual immersion programs teach students a foreign language for a portion of the school day, and English for a portion of the school day.
