PRINTER'S NO. 572
No. 539 Session of 1989
INTRODUCED BY FUMO, LYNCH, ANDREZESKI, WILLIAMS, PORTERFIELD,
JONES, STEWART, MUSTO, STOUT, SALVATORE, REIBMAN, AFFLERBACH,
RHOADES AND HESS, FEBRUARY 15, 1989
REFERRED TO EDUCATION, FEBRUARY 15, 1989
AN ACT
1 Requiring institutions of higher education to evaluate their
2 faculties for fluency in the English language; providing for
3 certifications as to that fluency; imposing penalties; and
4 conferring powers and duties upon the State Board of
5 Education and the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance
6 Agency.
7 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
8 hereby enacts as follows:
9 Section 1. Short title.
10 This act shall be known and may be cited as the English
11 Fluency in Higher Education Act.
12 Section 2. Definitions.
13 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
14 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
15 context clearly indicates otherwise:
16 "Agency." The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance
17 Agency.
18 "Board." The State Board of Education of the Department of
19 Education.
1 "Department." The Department of Education of the
2 Commonwealth.
3 Section 3. Evaluation of fluency.
4 Institutions of higher education operating in this
5 Commonwealth shall evaluate the members of their faculty for
6 fluency in the English language. Fluency shall be evaluated
7 using the criteria of the Educational Testing Service in its
8 evaluation of the "Test of Spoken English" or any other criteria
9 which equals or exceeds that standard.
10 Section 4. Certification.
11 (a) General rule.--Except as provided in subsection (b), by
12 September 1 of each year, each institution of higher education
13 operating in this Commonwealth must file with the department a
14 certification stating that the members of its faculty are fluent
15 in the English language under section 3.
16 (b) First year.--For the year in which this act takes
17 effect, the certification required by subsection (a) must be
18 filed within 120 days of the effective date of the regulations
19 promulgated under section 6.
20 Section 5. Noncompliance.
21 If an institution of higher education operating in this
22 Commonwealth does not comply with section 4, the agency shall
23 curtail all grants to the institution; and the institution shall
24 cease receiving State-appropriated instructional subsidies. The
25 department shall enforce this section.
26 Section 6. Regulations.
27 The board shall promulgate regulations to implement sections
28 3 and 4.
29 Section 7. Effective date.
30 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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