SB 203: "An Act relating to instruction in a language other than English; relating to limited teacher certificates; renaming the Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council as the Council for Alaska Native Languages; and relating to the membership of the Council for Alaska Native Languages."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 203 01 "An Act relating to instruction in a language other than English; relating to limited 02 teacher certificates; renaming the Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory 03 Council as the Council for Alaska Native Languages; and relating to the membership of 04 the Council for Alaska Native Languages." 05 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 * Section 1. AS 14.20.025 is repealed and reenacted to read: 07 Sec. 14.20.025. Limited teacher certificates. (a) Notwithstanding 08 AS 14.20.020(b) and 14.20.022, the department may issue a limited teacher certificate, 09 valid only in the area of expertise for which it is issued, to a person qualified under (b) 10 of this section to teach 11 (1) Alaska Native Culture; 12 (2) military science; 13 (3) vocational or technical education; 14 (4) any subject if the language of instruction is not English.
01 (b) A person may apply for a limited teacher certificate under this section if 02 the person is the subject of a request made under (c) of this section and demonstrates, 03 as required by regulations adopted by the board, instructional skills and subject matter 04 expertise sufficient to assure the public that the person is competent as a teacher. The 05 board may require a person issued a limited teacher certificate under this section to 06 undertake academic training as may be required by the board by regulation and make 07 satisfactory progress in the academic training. 08 (c) The department may issue a limited teacher certificate under this section 09 only if the school board of the district or regional educational attendance area in which 10 an applicant for a limited teacher certificate will be teaching submits a request to the 11 department for the limited teacher certificate to be issued to the applicant. A request 12 for a limited teacher certificate under (a)(4) of this section must specify the subject 13 and instructional language for which the certificate is valid. 14 (d) The board may adopt regulations necessary to implement this section. The 15 regulations may not require an applicant under (a)(4) of this section to achieve a 16 minimum score on an examination unless the examination is given in the instructional 17 language for which the limited certificate is valid. 18 (e) A limited teacher certificate issued under this section is initially valid for 19 one year. The department may, in accordance with regulations adopted by the board, 20 extend or renew a limited teacher certificate issued under this section if the school 21 board that initially requested the issuance of the limited teacher certificate requests 22 that the certificate be extended or renewed and certifies that the person has 23 demonstrated skills in classroom instruction and student assessment. 24 * Sec. 2. AS 44.33.520(a) is amended to read: 25 (a) The Council for Alaska Native Languages [ALASKA NATIVE 26 LANGUAGE PRESERVATION AND ADVISORY COUNCIL] is established in the 27 department for the purpose of recommending the establishment or reorganization of 28 programs to support the preservation, restoration, and revitalization of Alaska Native 29 languages. 30 * Sec. 3. AS 44.33.520(c) is amended to read: 31 (c) The governor shall appoint to the council established in this section seven
01 [FIVE] voting members who are professional language experts and who represent 02 diverse regions of the state. In addition, one member of the senate appointed by the 03 president of the senate and one member of the house of representatives appointed by 04 the speaker of the house of representatives shall serve on the council as nonvoting 05 members. In appointing the nonvoting members of the council, the president of the 06 senate and the speaker of the house of representatives shall appoint a member of the 07 bush caucus, if a bush caucus exists. In this subsection, "bush caucus" means a group 08 of legislators that represents rural areas of the state. 09 * Sec. 4. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 10 read: 11 REVISOR'S INSTRUCTIONS. The revisor of statutes is requested to change the 12 (1) heading of art. 9 of AS 44.33 from "Alaska Native Language Preservation 13 and Advisory Council" to "Council for Alaska Native Languages"; 14 (2) catch line of AS 44.33.520 from "Alaska Native Language Preservation 15 and Advisory Council" to "Council for Alaska Native Languages."