04/01/2019 08:00 AM House EDUCATION

         HB 24-LIMITED TEACHER CERTIFICATES; LANGUAGES                                                                      
                                                                                                                              
8:04:06 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  DRUMMOND announced  that  the first  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."                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
8:04:23 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE    JONATHAN     KREISS-TOMKINS,    Alaska    State                                                               
Legislature, as prime sponsor of  HB 24, directed the committee's                                                               
attention  to  a  list  of schools  [included  in  the  committee                                                               
packet].                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
8:05:23 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
The committee took a brief at-ease at 8:05 a.m.                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
8:06:18 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
KATHERINE   GARDNER,   Executive   Director,   Human   Resources,                                                               
Matanuska-Susitna  (Mat-Su)  School  District,  stated  that  the                                                               
district  is   home  to  immersion   charter  schools,   and  the                                                               
district's  support  for  HB  24  stems from  the  need  to  find                                                               
teachers, who  are not only  competent as teachers but  also have                                                               
"the requisite language  and cultural skills to  instruct in this                                                               
rich,  immersion  program."    She   said  the  teachers  in  the                                                               
immersion  program   are  qualified  instructors   whose  primary                                                               
language is  Spanish.   She stated, "Requiring  them to  take the                                                               
basic competency test doesn't really  assess that they're meeting                                                               
the minimum  educational standards  that we  have; it's  simply a                                                               
test  of their  mastery of  the English  language, which  we know                                                               
they  don't  possess."   Ms.  Gardner  said there  currently  are                                                               
alternate, nontraditional options  for certification for teachers                                                               
of  physical  education (PE)  and  special  education (Spec  Ed),                                                               
among others.  She said  immersion programs are similarly unique,                                                               
and the district has at least  as much or more difficulty finding                                                               
educators  with the  language abilities  to  teach the  immersion                                                               
programs  as it  does for  any of  the other  alternate programs.                                                               
She said the  district does not look for  individuals just fluent                                                               
in Spanish;  it also  looks for trained  teachers fluent  in both                                                               
language and  culture.  Ms.  Gardner clarified that  the district                                                               
has been successful  in finding these individuals  but is looking                                                               
for   "an   appropriate   path  to   certification"   for   these                                                               
individuals, which is what HB 24 proposes.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
8:08:55 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  HOPKINS whether  Ms.  Gardner  would ensure  that                                                               
[teachers employed  in the immersion  programs] are  well trained                                                               
and maintain their ongoing education.   He then asked whether the                                                               
Mat-Su  School District  has plans  for the  expansion of  "other                                                               
immersion language schools."                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MS.   GARDNER  answered   that   the   immersion  teachers   have                                                               
certification from other  countries or Puerto Rico  and have been                                                               
vetted.   She  indicated that  they meet  state requirements  for                                                               
certification but cannot  pass the basic competency  test.  Under                                                               
the provision of  HB 24, she said, the district  would expect the                                                               
Department  of  Education  & Early  Development  (DEED)  to  have                                                               
similar requirements  for these  teachers in terms  of continuing                                                               
education,   and  the   district   would   have  these   teachers                                                               
participate  with  all other  teachers  in  "a number  of  really                                                               
rigorous   professional    development   opportunities."       To                                                               
Representative Hopkins'  second question,  she said  the district                                                               
does not have any plans for expansion at this time.                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
8:10:42 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
JENNIFER    SCHMIDT-HUTCHINS,   Principal,    Fronteras   Spanish                                                               
Immersion Charter  School ("Fronteras"), testified in  support of                                                               
HB  24.   She said  the proposed  legislation would  allow school                                                               
districts to hire  native language speakers who  currently do not                                                               
hold a  teaching certificate or  are in the process  of obtaining                                                               
one.    She  said  Fronteras currently  has  a  Spanish  speaking                                                               
teacher who  has, for  three years,  been attempting  to complete                                                               
the third  and final  portion of  "the practice"  in order  to be                                                               
eligible for the Alaska teaching  certificate.  It is the reading                                                               
test that  is "holding her  up."  She  pointed out that  a person                                                               
[for whom  English is not the  native language] must read  all of                                                               
the  directions for  each  question of  the  practice in  his/her                                                               
nonnative  language, translate  the  question  from English,  and                                                               
formulate the answer,  which then must be  translated to English,                                                               
and  this  must  be  done   within  a  certain  period  of  time.                                                               
Additional  time can  be  requested but  at a  limit  of only  20                                                               
minutes.   She relayed  that the Fronteras  teacher is  a 13-year                                                               
veteran  teacher from  Puerto Rico.   There  have been  two other                                                               
teachers in the same situation:   one from Guatemala and one from                                                               
Columbia.   The teacher  from Guatemala was  forced to  return to                                                               
her home  country for two  years because  she could not  pass the                                                               
practice.   The teacher from Columbia,  who only had to  pass the                                                               
math portion of  the practice, decided to move  to another school                                                               
district where  she has taken  the position of a  classroom aide,                                                               
even  though she  had three  years'  experience as  a teacher  in                                                               
Columbia.  Ms. Schmidt-Hutchins said  in each of these cases, the                                                               
university credits of the teachers  had been vetted and approved;                                                               
it  was only  the practice  that delayed  or prevented  them from                                                               
getting the Alaska teaching certificate.   She said the departure                                                               
of  these  teachers  is  a   loss;  enrolling  one's  student  at                                                               
Fronteras is a gift parents give  their children.  She said there                                                               
are other teachers  at Fronteras, who are fluent  in Spanish, but                                                               
what  "nonnative speakers"  lack is  cultural authenticity.   She                                                               
said  every  single teacher  in  the  district goes  through  the                                                               
certification   process,  including   classified   staff.     She                                                               
reiterated her support for the proposed legislation.                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
8:15:40 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON expressed appreciation for what Fronteras                                                                
does, and she said it sounds like HB 24 would be good for the                                                                   
school.                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
8:16:31 AM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
X'UNEI  LANCE  TWITCHELL testified  in  support  of  HB 24.    He                                                               
relayed  that  he is  an  associate  professor of  Alaska  Native                                                               
Languages  [at  the University  of  Alaska  - Southeast]  but  is                                                               
speaking for himself.  He testified as follows:                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
     The state of  Alaska has made significant  steps in the                                                                    
     past  six  years in  terms  of  Alaska Native  language                                                                    
     revitalization,  but  we  are  still in  a  pattern  of                                                                    
     decline   regarding  the   health   viability  of   our                                                                    
     indigenous languages.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
     Last year  an emergency  declaration was  announced for                                                                    
     Alaska  Native  languages,  and  we  have  yet  to  see                                                                    
     changes  that  might  result  in  a  more  diverse  and                                                                    
     equitable environment in our  state.  Specifically, the                                                                    
     need  still exists  to move  the original  languages of                                                                    
     our state  to a  centralized and protected  location in                                                                    
     curricula across the  state, which is a  right that has                                                                    
     been   denied  indigenous   people  since   Alaska  was                                                                    
     declared a territory of the United States.                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
     I believe  this bill is  a step in the  right direction                                                                    
     and should  be adopted  and followed by  two additional                                                                    
     activities:  one, the formation  of a college of Alaska                                                                    
     Native languages  at the University of  Alaska with the                                                                    
     purpose of  protecting existing speakers,  creating new                                                                    
     speakers,  and  coordinating  with  the  Department  of                                                                    
     Education &  Early Development  to certify  and license                                                                    
     Alaska   Native  language   teachers;   and  two,   the                                                                    
     centralizing  of Alaska  Native languages  by including                                                                    
     them in Alaska standards for education.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
     The  time  of  willful  ignorance  and  complacency  by                                                                    
     educators  and  administrators  of Alaska  schools,  of                                                                    
     elected  leaders  and  appointed  directors,  is  over.                                                                    
     What  is  good  for  Alaska Natives  is  good  for  all                                                                    
     Alaskans,  and  what  is good  for  Alaska  is  healthy                                                                    
     Alaska Native  languages.  This  means that we  can all                                                                    
     learn, we can  all admit that there  has been exclusion                                                                    
     and oppression,  and we can all  strive to collectively                                                                    
     be better.                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
     The laws we  have passed have said we  feel that Alaska                                                                    
     Native  languages  are  critical to  the  identity  and                                                                    
     health  of our  state.    We have  said  that they  are                                                                    
     important.   But what we  do on  a daily basis  has not                                                                    
     shifted  to put  those  values into  daily  life.   The                                                                    
     field to  enact these  changes is  certainly education.                                                                    
     In  2009,  Dr.   Michael  Krauss,  linguist,  professor                                                                    
     emeritus,  founder and  long-time  head  of the  Alaska                                                                    
     Native Language  Center, stated that  we stand  to lose                                                                    
     more indigenous  North American  languages in  the next                                                                    
     60  years  than  have been  lost  since  Anglo-American                                                                    
     contact.   That  is our  future  if we  continue to  do                                                                    
     things the same way we do now.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
     But you, as  legislators, shape the law.   The laws, as                                                                    
     they  stand now,  privilege the  colonial language  and                                                                    
     result in  linguistic genocide.   That is  the default.                                                                    
     However, if we  shape them in ways that  push us toward                                                                    
     equity, then  we move towards  a future where  there is                                                                    
     less death and  more life.  Language health  is tied to                                                                    
     physical health  and increased rates of  success at all                                                                    
     levels  of education,  and  those  increased rates  are                                                                    
     what I  am advocating for  here today.  This  bill will                                                                    
     help us move in that direction.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
MR. TWITCHELL said, "Gunalcheesh" [thank you].                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  DRUMMOND  expressed  appreciation for  Mr.  Twitchell's                                                               
testimony and announced that HB 24 would be held over.