1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; creating a Native Language
1.3 	Eminence Credentialing Task Force.
1.4 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.5 	Section 1. EMINENCE CREDENTIALING.
 1.6 		Subdivision 1.Goal. It is the goal of the state to
1.7 	support the teaching and revitalization of the Dakota and
1.8 	Anishinaabe languages, which are contingent to the geographical
1.9 	area included in the state of Minnesota.  The Native Language
1.10 	Eminence Credentialing Task Force is created to achieve this
1.11 	goal.
1.12 		Subd. 2.Membership. The Native Language Eminence
1.13 	Credentialing Task Force consists of the following members:
1.14 	(1) the commissioner of education;
1.15 	(2) one member appointed by each federally recognized
1.16 	Indian tribe in the state;
1.17 	(3) one member appointed by each institution of higher
1.18 	education organized by any federally recognized Indian tribe in
1.19 	the state;
1.20 	(4) one member representing the University of Minnesota
1.21 	Department of American Indian Studies appointed by the
1.22 	university provost;
1.23 	(5) the chair of the state Indian Affairs Council;
1.24 	(6) four members of the legislature:  two members appointed
2.1 	under the rules of the senate and two members appointed under
2.2 	the rules of the house of representatives; and 
2.3 	(7) three native speakers of the Anishinaabe language and
2.4 	three native speakers of the Dakota language, all appointed by
2.5 	the Dakota Ojibwe Language Revitalization Alliance.
2.6 		Subd. 3.Administration. (a) The Native Language
2.7 	Eminence Credentialing Task Force is governed by Minnesota
2.8 	Statutes, section 15.059.
2.9 	(b) The task force shall elect a chair from its
2.10 	membership.  The commissioner of education shall provide staff
2.11 	and administrative support for the task force.
2.12 		Subd. 4.Duties. The task force shall review and
2.13 	recommend changes to the eminence credentials for teachers of
2.14 	the Dakota and Anishinaabe languages in order to increase the
2.15 	number of fluent "fist speakers" who can teach the language and
2.16 	the number of teachers of the Dakota and Anishinaabe languages
2.17 	by considering and addressing the following:
2.18 	(1) consistency of evaluation of the level of fluency;
2.19 	(2) means of evaluating skills in speaking the languages
2.20 	and teaching of the languages;
2.21 	(3) means of evaluating level of fluency by oral
2.22 	examination;
2.23 	(4) a rating system that will include separate ratings for
2.24 	fluency of the spoken languages and writing and reading skills
2.25 	in the languages, and specifying which dialect of the
2.26 	Anishinaabe and Dakota languages is being spoken;
2.27 	(5) a strategy for letters of support that acknowledges
2.28 	tribal law and sovereignty and that honors the knowledge of
2.29 	fluent speakers in the Anishinaabe and Dakota languages;
2.30 	(6) a strategy to ensure accessible testing of language
2.31 	fluency, including speaking, reading, and writing; and 
2.32 	(7) establishment of an appropriate fee for administering
2.33 	the fluency tests.
2.34 		Subd. 5.Report. The task force shall submit a report to
2.35 	the legislature by January 15, 2006, to fulfill the duties of
2.36 	the task force.
3.1 		Subd. 6.Expiration. The task force expires upon
3.2 	submission of the report on January 15, 2006.