RE: AB 420 Teachers: Alternative Language Assessments: Filipino Language

Dear California State Senators,

In California, nearly 40\% of the population speaks a language other than English at home. These individuals represent a resource that has not yet been fully tapped. Studies have shown that students with second-language competence enhance our global competitiveness, at home and abroad.

To teachers and their students, Filipino classes offer more than vocabulary and grammar; they preserve students heritage. Schools need to recognize cultural diversity by continuing to offer such classes, and allow the next generation to be trained for future needs. The former US Secretary of Education Rod Paige stated that one of the priorities of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is increasing U.S. knowledge and expertise about other regions, cultures, languages and international issues.

Therefore, to ensure that a credentialing alternative is adopted for teachers of Filipino language, WE THE UNDERSIGNED are proud to support AB 420 (Shirley Horton). AB 420 will require the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to establish guidelines for alternative assessments to allow teachers of the Filipino language, for which there is no certification exam, to demonstrate their proficiency.