Each Legislative session has high-stake issues that will affect Arizona for generations to come. The following issues will be some of my top priorities for the upcoming session: properly funding English language learners, finding a meaningful solution to the immigration problem and increasing pay for corrections officers.

While the Republican-controlled Legislature has dragged its feet on complying with a six-year-old federal court order to properly fund English language learners, we have lost a generation of children who have attended school but who have not been given the necessary resources to learn.

The future of Arizona's children got a lot more hopeful on Dec. 16 when federal Judge Raner C. Collins ordered the State Legislature to adequately fund programs for students learning English or he will impose fines ranging from $500,000 a day to $2 million a day.

The Legislature will have only 15 days from Jan. 9 to adequately fund programs before the fines start. Let's hope that the Republican Leadership takes this matter seriously and does not play a "game of chicken" with the lives of thousands of Arizona pupils by sending up the same bill as the one vetoed by the Governor last May. It is time for folks to show real leadership and work with all stake-holders to craft a bi-partisan proposal that resolves the issue. It is time to put the court decision behind us.

We need to ensure that 180,000 students in this state become proficient in English. By mastering the skills of the language, they will have the ability to improve the quality of their lives and their children's.

Judge Collins gave students even more hope when he ruled that English learners will not be required to pass the AIMS test to earn a diploma until the state has funded the programs and students have had time to prepare.

Immigration is another issue that has been unresolved for too long. ... I believe any solution to immigration must include a guest-worker program to allow immigrants to continue adding to the U.S. economy.

Another issue facing the state this year is a projected surplus of $750 million. This is a rare opportunity for a state that spent so many years with a deficit. One of the best things we can do with the surplus is to raise the salaries of Department of Corrections officers.

The Department of Corrections has a 20-percent vacancy because officers are underpaid. Correctional officers leave the state agency to work for other law enforcement agencies that pay more.