ELL instruction will take $40 million investment

$40 million price tag on education program

The cost to educate Arizona’s English Language Learner students totals $40 million, according to Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne. This is a fraction of the initial estimate of $300 million estimated by teachers and school administrators that was announced earlier this year.  The amount is based on budget requests submitted by 249 districts and charter holders who need additional funds to educate their ELL population. The funds would support salaries for additional teachers, textbooks and other learning material.  According to the Arizona Department of Education, there are 130,781 ELL students in the state