LD 2083, “RESOLVE, TO EXPAND ACCESS TO
FOREIGN LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION IN MAINE SCHOOLS”

TESTIMONY OF REP. SHARON TREAT

January 23, 2008

Joint Standing Committee on Education & Cultural Affairs

Senator Bowman, Representative Norton and members of the Committee: My name is Sharon Treat and I represent House District 79, Hallowell, Farmingdale and West Gardiner. I am pleased to testify today as the prime sponsor of LD 2083, “RESOLVE, TO EXPAND ACCESS TO FOREIGN LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION IN MAINE SCHOOLS.”

Maine has identified modern and classical languages as a targeted need. Our students need to be conversant in languages in addition to English if they are to meet high educational standards and be fully prepared to participate in our global economy. Yet despite agreement on these goals, Maine’s standards for certifying foreign language teachers puts road blocks in the way of some of the most qualified among them – teachers whose first language is the foreign language they teach. If it is the intent of educators throughout the State of Maine to attract and retain teachers in this field, then steps must be taken to assist those teachers in obtaining certification, which is what LD 2083 does.

• possess a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited institution
• possess a valid State of Maine teacher’s certificate (provisional, professional, or Master Teacher) for which no requirements have been waived
• demonstrate content knowledge in the core academic subject taught

Maine is currently losing, or stands to lose, some highly qualified language teachers because they are not able to fulfill the second requirement above. The reason they are not able to obtain the State of Maine teacher’s certificate is they experience difficulty in achieving the PRAXIS I benchmark scores for the English section of this standardized test.

Maine’s benchmark scores (or cut scores) for reading and writing are some of the more stringent in the country at 176 and 175 respectively. While we recognize the need to hold the teachers of our students to high standards, we also must recognize and accept the need to have our students taught by native language speakers who also bring with them a wealth of knowledge about the various cultures.

We have language teachers who can fulfill the requirement that they demonstrate subject matter competency in the core academic subject (the language they are hired to teach), yet they cannot become fully certified because they experience some difficulties in writing and reading in their non-native language – English.

There is precedent for providing for greater flexibility in the application of these certification standards to foreign language teachers. It is important to note that No Child Left behind does NOT dictate the specifics of Maine’s certification standards and which cut scores are applied etc. In fact, the State of Maine currently exempts the following teachers from the “highly qualified” requirement:

• health and physical education
• industrial technology
gifted and talented business and technology vocational education
• career education, family and consumer science, and life skills (practical arts)

In this case, where foreign-born language teachers bring a wealth of experience and cultural diversity to the classroom – something not measured by PRAXIS I but incredibly important in this day and age – the case for building some flexibility into our certification standards is even greater.

This issue came to my attention because an exceptionally gifted teacher of Japanese at the Hall-Dale High School – Naoto Kobayashi – has been caught in this bind. Mr. Kobayashi has been nationally recognized as a Miliken award winner and is an incredible teacher. I have been overwhelmed by the testimonials from students, fellow teachers, administrators and others who wrote me to share their view that something is wrong with Maine’s teaching certification requirements if Mr. Kobayashi does not qualify.

I will read briefly from some of these testimonials.

This is not an issue specific only to Hall-Dale and Naoto Kobayashi. Not only is Japanese language instruction affected at Hall-Dale but Mr. Kobayashi has also taught at Ellsworth High School, Erskine Academy, Gardiner High School, Lewiston High School and Upper Kennebec Valley High School in Bingham, which all have participated in the Japanese program through videoconferencing. Moreover, other excellent teachers are affected in other schools across the state.

LD 2083 is a reasonable response to this problem, and I urge this committee’s unanimous support.

Thank you.