/ Modified sep 8, 2023 8:41 a.m.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction files lawsuit against Governor and Attorney General

Suit seeks to inforce English-language immerision teaching in Arizona public schools.

tom horne spot Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction, and former Attorney General, Tom Horne.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne has filed a lawsuit against Governor Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes over what Horne says is a breach of a voter initiative on teaching English-language learners in Arizona Public Schools.

Superintendent Horne wants the court to mandate that all public schools obey a voter initiative to teach English language learners in English immersion rather than dual language classes.

A law passed by the legislature in 2019 has been interpreted by some as authorizing dual-language instruction, but Horne says the Arizona Constitution prohibits any change to a voter-protected initiative unless it furthers the purpose of what voters intended

The lawsuit also names as a defendant the Creighton school district, one of the districts still using the dual-language method.

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