Senate Education Committee advances five education measures; debates sign-language interpreter standards

The Senate Education Committee on Oct. 12 approved a package of education measures and forwarded them to the full Senate while discussing concerns about a separate regulation on sign-language interpreter qualifications.

The committee approved S 79, a bill that would create a five‑year pilot allowing eligible schools to hire non‑certified teachers for up to 10% of their teaching staff. Donna Barton, the committee research director, summarized the proposal: "This is a bill to establish a 5 year pilot program that will permit a school within certain overall ratings or is located in a critical geographic area to hire non certified teachers in a ratio of up to 10% of its entire teaching staff." The bill requires non‑certified hires to hold at least a bachelor's or graduate degree in the subject area and at least five years of workplace experience; hires must enroll in a certification program within three years. The committee adopted subcommittee amendments…