Senate Bill sb0162e1

    CS for SB 162                            First Engrossed (ntc)



  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to American Sign Language;

  3         providing legislative findings and purpose;

  4         allowing foreign-language credits for

  5         instruction in American Sign Language;

  6         requiring notice of limitations; providing

  7         duties of the Commissioner of Education and the

  8         State Board of Education; providing for a task

  9         force and prescribing its duties; requiring

10         teachers of American Sign Language to be

11         licensed by a specified date; providing a plan

12         for postsecondary institutions; providing an

13         effective date.

14  

15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

16  

17         Section 1.  American Sign Language; findings;

18  foreign-language credits authorized; teacher licensing.--

19         (1)  LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS; PURPOSE.--

20         (a)  The Legislature finds that:

21         1.  American Sign Language (ASL) is a fully developed

22  visual-gestural language with distinct grammar, syntax, and

23  symbols and is one of hundreds of signed languages of the

24  world.

25         2.  ASL is recognized as the language of the American

26  deaf community and is the fourth most commonly used language

27  in the United States and Canada.

28         3.  The American deaf community is a group of citizens

29  who are members of a unique culture who share ASL as their

30  common language.

31  


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    CS for SB 162                            First Engrossed (ntc)



 1         4.  Thirty-three state legislatures have adopted

 2  legislation recognizing ASL as a language that should be

 3  taught in schools.

 4         (b)  It is the intent of the Legislature to recognize

 5  ASL as the language of the American deaf community, to

 6  authorize public and independent schools to offer ASL as a

 7  course of study, and to accept secondary-school ASL credits as

 8  foreign-language credits.

 9         (2)  AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE; FOREIGN-LANGUAGE CREDIT.--

10         (a)  American Sign Language is a visual-gestural system

11  of communication used by many in the deaf community living in

12  the United States and Canada. It is a complete and complex

13  language that has its own syntax, rhetoric, and grammar and

14  that is used to convey information and meaning through signs

15  made with the hands, arms, facial gestures, and other body

16  movements.

17         (b)  Any public or independent school may offer

18  American Sign Language for foreign-language credit. Students

19  taking American Sign Language for foreign-language credit must

20  be advised by the school board prior to enrollment in such

21  course that postsecondary institutions outside of Florida may

22  not accept such credits as satisfying foreign-language

23  requirements.

24         (3)  DUTIES OF COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION AND STATE

25  BOARD OF EDUCATION; LICENSING OF AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE

26  TEACHERS; PLAN FOR POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION PROVIDERS.--

27         (a)  The Commissioner of Education shall appoint a

28  seven-member task force that includes representatives from two

29  state universities and one private college or university

30  located within this state which currently offer a 4-year deaf

31  education or sign language interpretation program as a part of


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    CS for SB 162                            First Engrossed (ntc)



 1  their respective curricula, two representatives from the

 2  Florida American Sign Language Teachers' Association (FASLTA),

 3  and two representatives from community colleges located within

 4  this state which have established Interpreter Training

 5  Programs (ITPs). This task force shall develop and submit to

 6  the Commissioner of Education a report that contains the most

 7  up-to-date information about American Sign Language (ASL) and

 8  guidelines for developing and maintaining ASL courses as a

 9  part of the curriculum. This information must be made

10  available to any administrator of a public or an independent

11  school upon request of the administrator.

12         (b)  By January 1, 2005, the State Board of Education

13  shall adopt rules establishing licensing/certification

14  standards to be applied to teachers who teach ASL as part of a

15  school curriculum. In developing the rules, the state board

16  shall consult with the task force established under paragraph

17  (a).

18         (c)  An ASL teacher must be certified by the Department

19  of Education by January 1, 2008, and must obtain current

20  certification through the Florida American Sign Language

21  Teachers' Association (FASLTA) by January 1, 2006. New FASLTA

22  certification may be used by current ASL teachers as an

23  alternative certification track.

24         (d)  The Commissioner of Education shall work with

25  providers of postsecondary education to develop and implement

26  a plan to ensure that postsecondary institutions in this state

27  will accept secondary school credits in ASL as credits in a

28  foreign language and to encourage postsecondary institutions

29  to offer ASL courses to students as a fulfillment of the

30  requirement for studying a foreign language.

31         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.


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