Orndoff, Mary. "Adwatch: An Analysis of Political Ads." The Birmingham News. 22 Apr. 2010:2B.
http://blog.al.com/sweethome/2010/04/adwatch_analysis_of_tv_ad_from.html
What ad says:
"I'm Tim James. Why do our politicians make us give our driver's license exam in 12 languages? This is Alabama. We speak English. If you want to live here, learn it. We're only giving that test in English if I'm governor. Maybe it's the businessman in me but we'll save money and it makes sense. Does it to you?"
Analysis:
Republican candidate for governor Tim James has this ad broadcasting statewide. The simple answer to his first question is that the Alabama Department of Public Safety offers the exam in multiple languages because of a 1998 federal court ruling that English-only tests violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
But that is not the whole history. Even before that ruling, troopers for more than 20 years gave the test in several languages. The state switched to English-only in 1991, after Alabama voters approved a constitutional amendment making English the official language of the state and the attorney general at the time advised giving the test only in English. The 1998 federal court opinion restored the test in multiple languages. It now is given in 12 foreign languages and in American sign language.
Despite additional legal challenges, Democratic Gov. Don Siegelman and Republican Gov. Bob Riley left the foreign language tests in place. In a recent state court lawsuit, Riley's office argued the testing options helped people with limited English skills pass the test and become legal drivers, which helped them assimilate into the economy by joining the work force, getting an education or shopping. Business groups also support the policy to market Alabama as friendly to foreign companies that are considering locating in the state. The testing policy was upheld by the Alabama Supreme Court in 2007. Another challenge is pending.
Alabama's drivers' license exams are administered electronically at locations around the state.
As for James' statement that giving the test only in English would save money, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Safety said there is no extra cost involved because the test is handled automatically by computer.
Test takers can choose from English, Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Thai and Vietnamese. It also is offered in American sign language.
In 2009, the department gave the written test 192,090 times, and 3,935 of those, or about 2 percent, were in a foreign language.