| TO: | Honorable Rob Eissler, Chair, House Committee on Public Education |
| FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB315 by Raymond (Relating to the instruction of American Sign Language in public high schools.), As Introduced |
The bill would require a school district to provide an instructor for an American Sign Language high school elective course. Instruction could not be delivered through teleconferencing or other electronic means; therefore, a school district might be required to hire an additional teacher or additional teachers to provide instruction for this required elective course.
There are approximately 1,622 public high schools and 1,152 elementary/secondary public schools. In 2007-08, there were 127.8 FTEs certified to teach American Sign Language in high schools. Assuming that all public high school and elementary/secondary schools required 0.25 FTE, the equivalent of approximately 566 new teachers statewide would be required. The average salary of a secondary teacher was $46,566 in the 2007-08 school year. Therefore, the annual cost statewide to add 566 new teachers would include approximately $26.4 million for salaries plus additional costs for benefits.
| Source Agencies: | 701 Central Education Agency
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, JSp, JGM, AW
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