HB 0553 2003
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to American Sign Language; providing
3	legislative findings and purpose; allowing foreign-
4	language credits for instruction in American Sign
5	Language; providing duties of the Commissioner of
6	Education and the State Board of Education; providing for
7	a task force and prescribing its duties; requiring
8	teachers of American Sign Language to be licensed by a
9	specified date; providing a plan for postsecondary
10	institutions; providing an effective date.
11
12	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
13
14	Section 1. American Sign Language; findings; foreign-
15	language credits authorized; teacher licensing.--
16	(1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS; PURPOSE.--
17	(a) The Legislature finds that:
18	1. American Sign Language (ASL) is a fully developed
19	visual-gestural language with distinct grammar, syntax, and
20	symbols and is one of hundreds of signed languages of the world.
21	2. ASL is recognized as the language of the American deaf
22	community and is the fourth most commonly used language in the
23	United States and Canada.
24	3. The American deaf community is a group of citizens who
25	are members of a unique culture who share ASL as their common
26	language.
27	4. Thirty-three state legislatures have adopted
28	legislation recognizing ASL as a language that should be taught
29	in schools.
30	(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to recognize ASL
31	as the language of the American deaf community, to authorize
32	public and independent schools to offer ASL as a course of
33	study, and to accept secondary-school ASL credits as foreign-
34	language credits.
35	(2) AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE; FOREIGN-LANGUAGE CREDIT.--
36	(a) American Sign Language is a visual-gestural system of
37	communication used by many in the deaf community living in the
38	United States and Canada. It is a complete and complex language
39	that has its own syntax, rhetoric, and grammar and that is used
40	to convey information and meaning through signs made with the
41	hands, arms, facial gestures, and other body movements.
42	(b) Any public or independent school may offer American
43	Sign Language for foreign-language credit.
44	(3) DUTIES OF COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION AND STATE BOARD OF
45	EDUCATION; LICENSING OF AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS; PLAN
46	FOR POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION PROVIDERS.--
47	(a) The Commissioner of Education shall appoint a seven-
48	member task force that includes representatives from at least
49	two state universities and one private college or university
50	located within this state which currently offer a 4-year deaf-
51	education or sign-language-interpretation program as a part of
52	their respective curricula and at least two representatives from
53	community colleges located within this state which have
54	established Interpreter Training Programs (ITPs). This task
55	force shall develop and submit to the Commissioner of Education
56	a report that contains the most up-to-date information about
57	American Sign Language (ASL) and guidelines for developing and
58	maintaining ASL courses as a part of the curriculum. This
59	information must be made available to any administrator of a
60	public or an independent school upon request of the
61	administrator.
62	(b) By January 1, 2004, the State Board of Education shall
63	adopt rules establishing licensing/certification standards to be
64	applied to teachers who teach ASL as part of a school
65	curriculum. In developing the rules, the board shall consult
66	with the task force established under paragraph (a).
67	(c) An ASL teacher must be certified by the Department of
68	Education by January 1, 2008, and must obtain current
69	certification through the American Sign Language Teachers'
70	Association by January 1, 2004.
71	(d) The Commissioner of Education shall work with
72	providers of postsecondary education to develop and implement a
73	plan to ensure that postsecondary institutions in this state
74	will accept secondary school credits in ASL as credits in a
75	foreign language and to encourage postsecondary institutions to
76	offer ASL courses to students as a fulfillment of the
77	requirement for studying a foreign language.
78	Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.