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.