Tom Horne's wife sues Phoenix school district over dual language program

With the help of Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne's wife, a Scottsdale parent has filed a lawsuit accusing the Creighton Elementary School District in Phoenix of running an unlawful dual language program.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday, a little more than a week after a judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Horne last year that sought to bar students learning English from participating in programs where students learn in two languages, typically English and Spanish.

Carmen Chenal Horne filed the new suit in Maricopa County Superior Court. It claims Creighton Elementary is violating Proposition 203, a ballot measure approved by more than 60% of voters in 2000. The law, which was also the basis of Horne's lawsuit, requires that English learners be taught only in English.

Horne, a Republican and staunch supporter of English-only immersion programs, has been waging a battle against dual language programs since he was elected to lead the Arizona Department of Education in 2020.

Arizona has a large student population classified as English language learners. About 93,000 students were classified as English learners in the 2021-22 school year, making up about 8.5% of the overall 1.1 million K-12 public school enrollment.

In 2020, the State Board of Education approved the use of dual language programs to teach English learners. The year before, Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, signed legislation passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature that directed the state board to develop research-based models to give schools more flexibility in teaching English language learners within the framework of Proposition 203. Data showed English learners were not learning the language and falling behind academically under a more restrictive English immersion model.

After a judge dismissed Horne's lawsuit, saying he had no legal authority to file it, he vowed legal action against dual language programs would continue in the form of a lawsuit brought by a parent.

"That day has come," Horne said in a written statement.

Lawsuit could lead to severe consequences for school board

In addition to the Creighton Elementary School District, the new lawsuit names Creighton Elementary School District Superintendent Jay Mann and all five Creighton Elementary School District Governing Board members.

The lawsuit states that Proposition 203 requires English learners to be taught only in English unless they are proficient enough to obtain a waiver to participate in dual language programs. The suit claims Creighton Elementary and other districts allow English learners without waivers to participate in dual language programs.

The lawsuit asks that the five Creighton Elementary board members be removed from the board and barred from running again for five years, as prescribed by the ballot measure. It also asks a judge to issue an injunction requiring English language learners to be taught only in English immersion classrooms, not dual language programs. The lawsuit asks for the defendants to pay Chenal Horne's attorney fees, too.

"Each member of the Creighton Elementary school board will be compelled to leave the board immediately and will not be able to hold a position of authority in Arizona public schools for five years if the court agrees that they are violating the voter-approved Proposition 203," Horne said in the statement.

"The law includes this penalty to ensure that schools take the law seriously. Despite these draconian consequences, the evidence is clear that the Creighton District is violating the will of the voters by using dual language programs. The clear mandate of the law is that English Language Learners be taught English by immersion throughout the day and all school districts must follow the law," the statement said.

The lawsuit also claims that Creighton Elementary's rate of English language learners becoming proficient in English last year was 5.1%. The suit claims that rate is well below several districts that use structured English-only immersion programs to teach English learners.

"We always strive to do what is best for our kids," said Creighton Elementary spokesperson Emily Waszolek. "We will continue to support parent choice and the programs that are supported by our community and families."

Waszolek said the Scottsdale parent is suing based on the district's use of a dual language model approved by the State Board of Education as a model for English language development. The district is working with its legal counsel on the matter, she said.

Why is Scottsdale parent suing Phoenix school district?

Rebecca Gau, executive director of Stand for Children Arizona, a nonprofit educational equity advocacy group, pushed back against the lawsuit. She questioned the appropriateness of the superintendent of public instruction's spouse filing it.

"The lawsuit seems really fishy to me," Gau said. "I mean, the attorney is Horne's wife."

Chenal Horne said in an email that there is no conflict of interest and that she is the appropriate lawyer for the case, citing her support of English immersion and her background as a refugee from Cuba.

"The husband and wife agree on this issue as it should be. I came to this country from Cuba at age 8, speaking only Spanish and no English. I was immersed in English and became fluent within three months, and went onto a successful academic and legal career," she said.

Horne also said in an email that his spouse's filing of the lawsuit is not a conflict. He said she is "the ideal lawyer to handle this case."

Gau also questioned how the parent of a student attending a school in suburban Scottsdale could show her son is being affected by a dual language program in an urban school district in Phoenix.

"I'm not sure how a Scottsdale parent is being harmed by a program in Creighton. There just seems to be a lot wrong with that statement," Gau said. "A Scottsdale parent is upset about something happening in Creighton, which is a very different school district with a very different demographic."

Patricia Pellett is the parent plaintiff in the new lawsuit. Her son is studying at "Scottsdale High School," according to the complaint, but there is no school in Arizona with that name.

Chenal Horne said the error was due to a typo, and the lawsuit should have said the Scottsdale Unified School District. Horne's spokesperson, Doug Nick, clarified that Pellett's son attends Cocopah Middle School in Scottsdale.

Chenal Horne said state law allows any Arizona parent to sue any Arizona district.

"The provision was designed to make sure that the law is enforced," she said in an email.

The Arizona Attorney General's Office is reviewing the lawsuit, said Richie Taylor, a spokesman for Attorney General Kris Mayes.

"Attorney General Mayes believes Superintendent Horne's time would be better spent supporting our state's public schools rather than soliciting lawsuits against them," Taylor said in an email.

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Reach the reporter at daniel.gonzalez@arizonarepublic.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Tom Horne's wife sues school district over dual language program