An Arizona congresswoman has proposed three bills that would fund literacy classes, dual language programs and training for teachers of students learning English in the state, hoping to remedy gaps highlighted by Arizona Luminaria and ProPublica.
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that → propose → Luminaria
Rep. Adelita Grijalva, a Democrat, filed the bills Sept. 16, the same day Arizona Luminaria and ProPublica reported that the state had lowered the score students need to pass its English proficiency test.
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students → file → test
Experts warned the change will push thousands of students out of language services before they know English well enough to succeed in school.
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they → warn → school
Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, a Republican longtime defender of Arizona’s English-only policies, approved the change.
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Horne → approve → change
Grijalva’s Reaching English Learners Act would create competitive grants of up to five years for colleges that partner with high-need school districts or early childhood programs to train teachers to lead classrooms of English learners.
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that → create → learners
It gives preference to programs that recruit teacher candidates who were once English learners or come from underrepresented groups.
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who → give → groups
Colleges would pay at least half the cost of the training.
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Colleges → pay → training
The bill does not specify a cost for the program.
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bill → specify → program
A spokesperson for Grijalva said she had previously drafted the bills but noted that Arizona Luminaria and ProPublica’s reporting underscored why federal support is needed to improve English learning.
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support → say → learning
In a statement to the news organizations, Grijalva said, “Superintendent Horne’s mismanagement of the misguided ‘English-only’ model underscores the need for real federal support for English learners, educators, and their families, which is exactly what my legislation would provide.
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legislation → say → what
Instead of repeating the mistakes of the past by simply making the English proficiency test easier to pass, we should give students the resources and support they need to actually succeed in the classroom, including through supporting bilingual education.”
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they → repeat → education
Horne disputed Grijalva’s characterization, arguing that the English-only model is superior to bilingual education.
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model → dispute → education
“To put bilingual education in schools is to sacrifice the students to dogma and condemn them to not learn English properly, which negatively will affect their future academic endeavors and their hope for good jobs in the economy,” Horne told the news organizations.
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Horne → put → organizations
The state Department of Education has previously defended its decision to make it easier to pass the test by saying it first administered the exam to 600 native English speakers to set a baseline for the changes.
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it → defend → changes
The department skipped this step in 2020, when it made the last major change to the test, officials noted.
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officials → skip → test
As the news organizations reported, after the state lowered the score needed to pass the fluency test, the statewide pass rate, known as the reclassification rate, jumped to 26% in 2026, from 12% the year before.
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rate → report → %
Of the nearly 113,000 students who took the exam, about 30,000 were classified as proficient and removed from English-language services this school year.
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30,000 → take → services
Proposition 203, which Arizona voters approved in 2000, established the state’s English-only policies.
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voters → approve → policies
Students learning English spend two to four hours a day in separate English instruction until they pass a test showing they’re fluent enough to learn in a mainstream classroom.
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they → learn → classroom
Past attempts by the state to reclassify large numbers of children learning English as fluent prompted federal investigations.
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attempts → reclassify → investigations
The government alleged that placing such students in classrooms where they struggled because they lacked knowledge of English violated their civil and educational rights.
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they → allege → rights
Arizona agreed to a settlement more than a decade ago to resolve the matter.
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Arizona → agree → matter
Grijalva proposed two other bills to aid English learning and literacy.
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Grijalva → propose → learning
One of the measures, the Families Learning and Understanding English Together Act, would authorize $75 million a year from 2027 through 2031 for family literacy programs.
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One → authorize → programs
Head Start programs, school districts, adult education providers and nonprofits could apply for grants of $150,000 to $1 million a year to teach English and literacy to young children and their caregivers together.
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programs → apply → children
To qualify, programs would have to serve areas where English learners are a majority, or growing share, of students at local schools.
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learners → qualify → schools
The Supporting Young Language Learners’ Access to Bilingual Education Act, would fund dual-language immersion programs for children from low-income families from preschool through fifth grade.
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Act → fund → grade
Students in those programs would learn in English and a second language and would use the second language for at least half the school day.
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Students → learn → day
The bill would authorize $15 million for 2027 and unspecified amounts in the following four years.
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bill → authorize → years
Since Democrats do not have a majority in either house of Congress, the bills do not stand much of a chance this year.
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bills → have → chance
The Aporia
