HB 24-LIMITED TEACHER CERTIFICATES; LANGUAGES  CO-CHAIR WOOL announced that the next order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 24, "An Act relating to instruction in a language other than English; and relating to limited teacher certificates." CO-CHAIR WOOL opened public testimony on HB 24. 5:05:40 PM KATIE GARDNER, Matsu Borough School District, expressed her support for HB 24. She informed the committee that Matsu is home to Fronteras Spanish Immersion Charter School and said the borough needs qualified immersion teachers to run the immersion program. Doing that, she said, will require cultural experience as well as language fluency. She stated that the teachers employed in Matsu are trained, qualified, and highly competent educators who's only limitation to accessing the regular certification is their limited English language, which ironically, is one of the attributes that makes them so qualified. She said that HB 24 will allow the expansion of the opportunities that already exist in programs like career technical education and junior ROTC, to the language immersion program. REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN asked if Fronteras has taken advantage of the Type W certification. MS. GARDNER replied that they have one teacher who is employed on the Type W. Nonetheless, she said there is basic competency requirement under Type W that limits its usefulness for employing language teachers. The basic competency exam is the main limiting factor, as the only option for the test is in English. MS. GARDNER, responding to a follow-up question from Representative Hannan, acknowledged that the candidates for employment are teachers from different countries who have a verified bachelor's degree and have completed and completed a teacher preparation program in their country. She restated that the major limitation is the basic competency exam and that there is no option of taking it in their native language. 5:09:59 PM REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN proposed allowing a 2-year window to complete that for a full certification, as opposed to a certification that is held by the district. MS. GARDNER acknowledged that it would be helpful; however, it would not solve all the barriers facing this issue. She explained that in the past there have been some individuals who had around 1 year to work on the basic competency. Unfortunately, she said, it didn't present enough time for he or she to pass the exam. She added that it takes more than 2 years to learn the English language. REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN asked what content areas, aside from the Spanish language, the educators should be teaching. MS. GARDNER explained that the Fronteras program has grades K-8 splitting the day with some of the subjects taught in English and some in Spanish. She added that they would want them to have the equivalency of at least an elementary education endorsement. 5:12:45 PM CO-CHAIR WOOL announced that public testimony for HB 24 would be left open. [HB 24 was held over.] 5:12:53 PM The committee took an at-ease from 5:12 to 5:15 p.m.