Bill Text: HI SCR51 | 2016 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: American Sign Language; Department of Education; High Schools

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-03-29 - Report adopted, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM. [SCR51 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2016-SCR51-Amended.html

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THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	51
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO OFFER COURSES IN AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE.

 

 

     WHEREAS, the number of public high schools offering courses in American Sign Language grew 1,248 percent from 1992 to 2004; and

 

     WHEREAS, American Sign Language is now the third most studied language in America; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Education offers courses in American Sign Language at only three high schools statewide; and

 

     WHEREAS, public school students with deaf siblings or other family members would benefit from American Sign Language instruction in public schools by having the opportunity to acquire American Sign Language skills in an educational setting, thereby improving their ability to communicate with deaf family members; and

 

     WHEREAS, fluency in American Sign Language is a marketable skill; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2016, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Education is requested to offer courses for the instruction of American Sign Language in at least one high school per complex area; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education submit a report to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2017 on the status of establishing American Sign Language instruction in the public schools; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Education and Superintendent of Education.

Report Title: 

American Sign Language; Department of Education; High Schools