The Ohio House has passed a bill that would acknowledge students with high second- language skills. Lawmakers hope the move will better advertise valuable job skills.
Hudson High School graduate, Kathleen Greer’s offered multi-lingual testimony in favor of the State Seal of Biliteracy. The seal would be an add-on to Ohio high-school diplomas showing high proficiency in a foreign language.
House Bill 487 tasks the state Department of Education to come up with an assessment to gauge students’ language abilities.
Martha Esperanza Castaneda, associate professor of foreign language education at Miami University, testified to the House Education Committee earlier this year encouraging the adoption of the seal.
“It would recognize and validate the skills that students have a second language, whether it be French, Spanish, Chinese, German" as well as sign language and Native-American languages.
Advocates of the seal say it would demonstrate language achievement to both colleges and prospective employers.
The bill now goes to the Ohio Senate.
