SB 103: "An Act relating to a curriculum for Native language education; and providing for an effective date."
00SENATE BILL NO. 103 01 "An Act relating to a curriculum for Native language education; and providing 02 for an effective date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be known as the Native Language Education 05 Act. 06 * Sec. 2. FINDINGS. The legislature finds that 07 (1) Alaska's indigenous Native cultures and languages are unique, essential 08 elements of Alaska's heritage; 09 (2) Alaska's indigenous Native languages are an integral part of Alaska Native 10 people's culture and well-being; 11 (3) knowledge of one's indigenous language is important for the development 12 of social skills and self-esteem; it further contributes to the development of the individual and 13 the ability to communicate; 14 (4) translations from a Native language into English result in the loss of
01 context and deprivation of the full range of social and cultural understanding necessary to 02 function in the individual's environment; 03 (5) when Native children are proficient in their primary indigenous language, 04 they are more likely to do well in school; they also develop a higher degree of proficiency in 05 English; 06 (6) historically, Alaska Native children first learned their Native language in 07 their homes and communities, but, with the passing of Native elders and with a current 08 generation of parents who are not fluent in their Native language, younger generations are less 09 knowledgeable about their language and culture; 10 (7) the loss of indigenous Native languages dates back to the late 1800's when 11 mainstream American missionaries enforced federal policies that forbade the use of Native 12 languages, punished children for speaking their own language, and urged parents to speak only 13 English to their children; 14 (8) the continuation of "no Native language" policies in federal, territorial, and 15 state school systems between 1910 and 1970 resulted in the loss of many Native languages; 16 (9) the fact that only two of the 20 Alaska Native languages are fluently 17 spoken by children today is an indicator of the impending extinction of Native languages; 18 (10) unless action is taken, by the year 2055 only five of the 20 Alaska Native 19 languages will be spoken by anyone, and soon thereafter the Native languages of Alaska may 20 vanish. 21 * Sec. 3. AS 14.03.120(d) is amended to read: 22 (d) Annually, before the date set by the district under (e) of this section, each 23 public school shall provide, in a public meeting of parents, students, and community 24 members, a report on the school's performance and the performance of the school's 25 students. The report shall be prepared on a form prescribed by the department and 26 must include 27 (1) information on accreditation; 28 (2) results of norm-referenced achievement tests; 29 (3) results of state standards-based assessments in reading, writing, and 30 mathematics; 31 (4) a description, including quantitative and qualitative measures, of
01 student, parent, community, and business involvement in student learning; 02 (5) a description of the school's attendance, retention, dropout, and 03 graduation rates as specified by the state board; [AND] 04 (6) the annual percent of enrollment change, regardless of reason, and 05 the annual percent of enrollment change due to student transfers into and out of the 06 school district ; and 07 (7) if Native language education is provided, a summary and 08 evaluation of the curriculum described in AS 14.30.420 . 09 * Sec. 4. AS 14.30 is amended by adding a new section to article 6 to read: 10 Sec. 14.30.420. Native language education. (a) A school board in a district 11 in which a majority of the students are Alaska Natives shall establish a local Native 12 language curriculum advisory board for each school in the district in which a majority 13 of the students are Alaska Natives. If the local Native language curriculum advisory 14 board recommends the establishment of a Native language education curriculum for 15 a school, the school board may initiate and conduct a Native language education 16 curriculum within grades K through 12 at that school. The program, if established, 17 must include Native languages traditionally spoken in the community in which the 18 school is located. Each school board conducting a program of Native language 19 education shall implement the program as a part of regular classroom studies and shall 20 use 21 (1) instructors who are certified under AS 14.20.020 or 14.20.025; and 22 (2) to the extent possible 23 (A) instructors and instructional materials available through the 24 University of Alaska; and 25 (B) audio-visual, computer, and satellite technology. 26 (b) In this section, 27 (1) "district" has the meaning given in AS 14.17.990; 28 (2) "Native" means a person of one-fourth degree or more Alaskan 29 Indian, Eskimo, or Aleut blood. 30 * Sec. 5. This Act takes effect July 1, 1999.