Remember the $21 million in federal fines that the state of Arizona racked up more than a year ago because state legislators and Gov. Janet Napolitano couldn’t agree on how to meet a federal court order to adequately pay for the education of English-language learners? An appeals court later decided the state wouldn’t have to pay the fines.
But the legislature isn’t out of hot water yet, according to an article published today in the Arizona Republic. Lawmakers adjourned last week without resolving the issue, and the federal judge in the long-running case, Flores v. Arizona, has rejected their request to provide a stay on the order that told them to fix the problem by the end of the legislative session.
See my earlier post, “Another Chapter in the Saga Over How to Pay for ELL Programs in Arizona.”