Language education gets last-minute boost

With seconds left before the Legislature's midnight close, lawmakers handed over $750,000 to public schools to pay for kids to learn "critical" world languages like Chinese.

SB41, once sought an extended school year incentive, but was substituted close to midnight to give $750,000 to create a dual language immersion pilot for elementary schools and expand other schools' critical language pilot programs.

"The program has been very, very successful," House sponsoring Rep. Brad Last, R-St. George, said.

The money would fund six elementary dual immersion programs in Chinese, six Spanish pilots, two French pilots, and one Navajo pilot o something multi-cultural school bosses were pushing for early in the session.

"We have 3,000 students waiting to take this class o we need to pass it before midnight," sponsoring Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, said at 11:59 p.m.