He and his family immigrated to Columbus to join the city's growing Somali community. Talaso spoke no English and was terrified.

"The kids would ask me a question and I couldn't answer," he recalled.

French was all Ahmed Camara spoke when he arrived from New Guinea three years ago. Like Talaso, Ahmed had no formal education.

"I was scared the first time I came to school. The kids bullied me," Ahmed said.

But a hunger to learn and desire to fit in kept both youths coming back.

The number of students speaking limited English, or none at all, has soared to 5,000 in Columbus Public Schools.

More than 3,600 students are receiving English-as-a-second-language services. That's up from 898 students in 1997.

Columbus has the highest number of ESL students in the state; most are from Somalia and various Latino nations. But a growing number of such students can be found in most urban school districts and increasingly in suburban districts such as South-Western and Westerville.

That influx creates a dilemma for districts striving to meet tougher state standards for their students. Ohio law requires the incoming children to take standardized tests immediately, just like other students, although the first-year results aren't tabulated with the others.

But starting their second year of school, their scores count toward the schools' academic-achievement ranking -- meaning for students arriving around this time of year, teachers have a little more than a year to bring the newcomers up to grade level.

Such rapid schooling of foreign-born students is expensive.

But while the state funding formula gives districts extra money for students with disabilities and those struggling against poverty, it fails to adequately account for the higher cost of non-English speakers, said Columbus Superintendent Gene Harris.

In 1997, the Ohio Supreme Court found the state's school-funding system overly dependent on local property taxpayers. Yet state aid still makes up only 35 percent of Columbus' revenue, virtually unchanged from a decade ago.

The district received additional funding in the first few years after the court's decision, Harris said, and the district improved student test scores and graduation rates.

"We've made great strides with relatively flat funding," she said.

"We've had to stretch these dollars; we've had to lay off teachers; we've had to close buildings; and we've had a great change in our student population."

The financial struggles are magnified in Ohio's large and highly diverse urban districts. Many students are disabled, many live in poverty and many are high achievers in need of gifted services, all variables that complicate learning and add to the cost.

The funding shortage also has caused the Columbus district to put off textbook purchases for the past four years. Books had been replaced on a three-year cycle. At the same time, the district has tried to respond to student needs by expanding advanced-placement offerings and directing more resources to its influx of foreign-speaking students.

One of the district's biggest investments has been three new "welcome centers." The schools provide intense, individualized instruction to English-as-a-second-language students until they are ready to join a traditional school.

The brightly colored artwork decorating the halls of Mifflin International Middle School gives the first hint that the Northeast Side school is not a typical Columbus school. Heavy accents and young girls wearing veils give the next clues.

At Mifflin, specially trained teachers, smaller classes and individual tutoring help students acclimate. There is an aid in each class to assist students.

On average, students need two years of services, said Kenneth Woodard, director of the district's English-as-a-second-language program.

"The district has had to spend a large amount on the program," he said. "It takes more resources, more staff, special training, and a change on (the part of) teachers who need to do things different."

The district has added nearly 100 ESL teachers in the past 10 years.

"Some (students) have never written a letter or read a book," said Brenda Custodio, a district employee training to be a principal. In Barbara Sheridan's sixth-grade reading class, a stack of dictionaries in four languages attests to the countries her 12 students represent: China, Mexico, Somalia and Vietnam. The challenge, Sheridan said, is that new students arrive at Mifflin throughout the year.

As they take turns reading aloud a story about author Maya Angelou, the boys and girls are attentive.

"Char…char…char," a girl stumbles as she tries to sound out a new word.

"Charismatic," Sheridan interrupts. "I don't use that word so much, but it means she is popular and well liked."

The girl nods and continues.

Moments later, nearly every hand in the class shoots up when the teacher asks students to identify the types of words they have read.

"What part of speech is 'their'?" Sheridan asks.

"An adverb."

"No."

"Pronoun?" a boy asks.

"Yes. That is a pronoun."

The boy smiles, turning proudly to his friends.

ccandisky@dispatch.com

Columbus district

• One in 11 students speak no or limited English, and enrollment in English-as-a-second-language classes has quadrupled in 10 years.

• More than two-thirds of all students come from low-income families.

• The district receives $11,363 per student in local, state and federal revenue each year, 43rd highest in the state.

• 35 percent of its revenue comes from the state, virtually unchanged since 1997.