Appropriations Committee Testimony (2/23/23)
Testimony on the appropriations regarding, Senate Bill 665: An Act Concerning The Instruction of American Sign Language (ASL) in School.
Chairs Osten and Walker, Ranking Members Berthel and Nuccio, esteemed members of the General Assembly Appropriations Committee — my name is John Board, and I’m submitting testimony regarding House Bill 6659: An Act Concerning the State Budget for the Biennium Ending June 30, 2025, and Making Appropriations Therefor.
As legislative leaders, you have the opportunity to rewrite the Governor’s proposed budget to work in favor of Connecticut students. I would encourage this committee to move for the inclusion of Senate Bill 665: An Act Concerning The Instruction of American Sign Language (ASL) in School.
Under the draft language of Senate Bill 665, starting in August 2024 local boards of education that have opted into this three-year state-funded pilot program, by formally notifying the Commissioner of Education, would be able to offer one credit-hour worth of ASL per high school per school district; thus, allowing for students to earn the seal of biliteracy by taking an ASL-I, ASL-II, and ASL-III course.
I am requesting an estimated forty-two million dollars ($42,000,000.00) over the next two biennium budgets to fund the described pilot program above. These dollars could then be passed to local boards of education, who have opted-in, via an “American Sign Language Education Grant”.
We are living in an increasingly globalized world where graduates must be able to work with a wide range of individuals, express knowledge that is beyond what their degree is in, and find innovative solutions to the emerging challenges that are facing our society. My approach has always been one of an interdisciplinarian; which means my objective is to always find innovative cross-disciplinary approaches to solving complex problems.
As we have learned since the “Rihanna bowl” ASL provides an important way for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals to participate in the greater community.
The legislature should embrace the opportunity to provide ASL to ALL (high school) students. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 360 million individuals worldwide suffer from hearing loss, which equates to five percent (5%) of the world’s population. In America, ASL is the sixth most common language. Currently, over thirty (30) school districts in Connecticut provide ASL as a course.
If we as a country believe that it should be possible for all to communicate, then shouldn’t we make it possible for ALL to feel accepted and be able to partake in discussions with ease?
When students learn American Sign Language there is an increase in the development of their oral language skills, and when hearing students are taught a sign they use all four traditional pedagogical modalities — inesthetic (moving), visual (seeing), auditory (hearing), and tactile (touching). ASL signers, tend to have incredible spatial reasoning. Students also have the ability to obtain higher IQs as compared to their counterparts, who don’t obtain the skill of ASL. Lastly, ASL provides an opportunity for students to experience success and gain confidence in public speaking in a non-threatening environment.
Educators — both ‘frontline’ teachers and administrators — will benefit from the inclusion of ASL in the curriculum of our district. Implementation of this policy, will not be a challenge since several other states and districts have already recognized ASL as an accepted language for graduation. American Sign Language also has a unique grammar structure associated with it, which will ensure that students will improve their spelling and have a better grasp of the English language. In addition, ASL leads to higher reading levels. According to a Pennsylvania University study, conducted by CSCU graduate Marilyn Daniels, students who learn ASL end up with a 15%-20% improvement in vocabulary and test higher than non-ASL kids.
With the approval of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, employers began to ensure that individuals with disabilities would be supported in the workforce. In an effort to make workplaces more ‘disabled friendly,’ an increasing number of employers have started to employ interpreters or provide ASL training to their employees, empowering and providing greater opportunities for ALL to rise. There are sectors of our economy that have placed high importance on the inclusion of the ‘disability community’: Hospitality, Healthcare & EMS, Retail, and Education.
Finally, the greater community will see the results of adopting ASL in spades. When members of the community learn ASL, it humanizes the connections with the deaf and HOH community. Literally, small gestures will create waves. I want to share a short motif, which took the internet by storm, regarding ASL. A Starbucks barista learned ASL to easily communicate with a hearing-impaired customer. This customer visited the café 2–3 times a week and engaged by typing out the order on his phone but was pleasantly surprised on one of his visits when the barista signed to him asking for his order. This is just one small example of the real-world impact when students learn ASL.
I would implore the General Assembly Appropriations Committee to fully fund this proposed American Sign Language program.
