PHOENIX — State lawmakers are going to ask a federal judge for a bit more time to comply with his order to fund programs to teach English.

 Attorney David Cantelme who represents the Legislature said  lawmakers cannot possibly meet the March 4 deadline set last year by U.S. District Court Judge Raner Collins to have programs in place.

 Ignoring that deadline comes with a risk: The judge said in his original order he might begin imposing daily fines if Arizona has not complied by that date. And attorney Tim Hogan who represents the parents who successfully sued said he would seek penalties up to $1 million a day.

 But Cantelme acknowledged the only way to get that deadline pushed back is to assure Collins lawmakers will, in fact, comply with his order by some certain date. And that, he said, means legislators will have to shell out more money than they want — at least for the time being.

 That assessment is shared by state School Superintendent Tom Horne. He put the additional cost at about $25 million a year. Collins last year said he would accept the provisions of a 2006 law designed to bring Arizona into compliance with federal statutes requiring states to ensure that all students have an opportunity to learn English. That law requires all schools to submit funding requests based on how much they believe it will cost them to teach students English based on models approved by the Department of Education.

 That 2006 law then requires lawmakers to fund the requests after they have been screened by the state Department of Education. Cantelme said Tuesday some schools have not yet submitted their forms. He said that means it will not be possible for Horne to submit a budget request by this coming Tuesday, much less have funding in place.

 That, however, is just part of the problem.

 The 2006 law specifically reduces each school district’s state funding by the amount of federal aid they are receiving for similar programs. But Collins ruled last year that deduction is illegal, a conclusion upheld just this past Friday by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

 What that means, Cantelme said, is the only way for lawmakers to comply with Collins’ order is to fund the requests, without the offset.

 “He said those are not legal,’’ Cantelme said of the judge. “So that remains in place.’’

 Cantelme said the lawmakers he represents don’t agree with Collins’ ruling. But he said that remains the law unless and until the U.S. Supreme Court rules otherwise.

 The difference is significant: Horne said he believes the cost to state taxpayers without that federal deduction could run as high as $50 million. But he said if Collins’ order eventually is overturned the cost would be cut to about half of that.

 Horne said he will use the higher figure when he submits his funding request to the Legislature at the beginning of next week.

 He agreed with Cantelme that it would be illegal for him to request a lower amount while Collins’ ruling remains in effect.

 State education officials estimate there are about 130,000 students in Arizona schools who are classified as “English language learners,’’ meaning they come to school speaking another language and are not yet proficient in English. That represent about one out of every seven children in public schools.