March 3, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Governor Napolitano Sabotages Arizona as she lets ELL bill go to judge without her signature

(State Capitol, Phoenix) – Senate President Ken Bennett and House Speaker Jim Weiers issue the following statement regarding the action taken by the Governor today on the latest ELL legislation sent to her:

“Yesterday the Legislature sent Governor Napolitano a fourth bill to address the instruction of English Language Learners in Arizona. After preventing the first three measures from being evaluated by a federal judge while court fines against the state piled up to over $20 million, we again implored her to do the right thing for Arizona.

Today, we are pleased that she has finally decided to allow the legislation to go to the judge, but are bitterly disappointed that she has chosen to do so by adding a poisonous and inaccurate assessment of the bill that is tantamount to urging the judge to find against the state.

In her letter the Governor states that after “nine months and three vetoes, it is time to take this matter to a federal judge.” If all she was going to do in finally letting it go was to work against it at that same moment, she had many chances to do that before millions of dollars in fines accumulated against Arizona’s taxpayers.

Governor Napolitano took an oath to defend Arizona, not special interest groups and lobbies. It is unconscionable that she would attempt to sabotage the effort to bring closure to the ELL issue by finally allowing a plan to go to the judge on behalf of the state and at the same time using disingenuous arguments to seek defeat of that plan.

The Governor is upset that legislative measures did not contain the unjustifiable and arbitrary hundreds of millions of dollars she wanted to tack onto the ELL program. She also has balked every step of the way at the true accountability measures the legislative plans have contained. Her answer to that, sadly, is to continue working against the best interests of Arizona and its citizens.

Contrary to the trumped-up arguments she puts before the judge through her letter today, House Bill 2064 increases funding for ELL students and maintains that increased funding as an on-going base. It therefore does not violate federal supplanting laws.

To the contrary, it creates mechanisms by which school districts can use funds to supplement the base money they are already guaranteed for ELL students with federal money. It also allows for funding over and above that by the state so long as the district can demonstrate its actual need.

When real accountability on behalf of taxpayers collides with pots of unjustified money, it seems this Governor sides against the taxpayers every time.

Her criticism of the task force that will oversee the plan as “political appointees” is the height of hypocrisy. This task force is made up of appointments from both legislative and executive branches. What she has pushed for all along is to wrest control with the board of education – an entity made up solely of her own appointees.

The Governor talks about Proposition 203, but fails to mention that HB 2064 gives two years to accomplish the task of getting an ELL student to become proficient in English, where the proposition said one would suffice. It is critical that these students be given serious attention by the school system so that they can get on with the rest of their education quickly instead of languishing unsuccessfully in programs that become cash cows for the public school systems without the demand for results. HB 2064 accomplishes this.

Finally the governor complains that HB 2064 does not measure achievement of ELL students. But ELL should be strictly for making these students English proficient, not creating a preferred class of students in Arizona’s public school system. Regarding achievement, we fund tutoring programs for all students. Perhaps the Governor forgets or is not interested in the fact that ELL students are not the only students we need to help accomplish the goal of passing the AIMS test.

We urge anyone interested in this issue to read HB 2064. Anyone who does could only draw the conclusion that either the Governor did not read it, or that she will say and do anything to attain purely political ends, regardless of the cost to Arizona.

Fortunately, the Governor will no longer have the final say on this issue.

While we are extremely dismayed by the Governor’s approach today, and her continuing efforts to frustrate what is clearly in the best interests of Arizona, we have faith that Judge Collins will base his decision on the merits of the plan that will soon be before him. We firmly believe that in every respect, this measure addresses the court’s concerns regarding ELL funding and programs in Arizona and look forward to his thoughtful review of the issue.”

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For further information contact:
Nick Simonetta, Communications and Policy Advisor to the Majority
 Arizona State Senate
Office: (602) 926-5418, e-mail: nsimonet@azleg.gov
OR
Barrett Marson, Director of Communications
 Arizona House of Representatives
Office: (602) 926-3233, e-mail: bmarson@azleg.gov