Nearly 45,000 written Tennessee driver’s exams last year were taken in a language other than English — 12% of all tests taken.
The data, provided in an email this week by a state agency, shows the potential impact of a proposal — backed by some Chattanooga state lawmakers — that would require the written exam be given in English only.
Of the 374,000 written driver’s exams taken in Tennessee last year, 330,445 were in English and 44,557 were in Spanish. A smattering were taken in Korean, German and Japanese, the other languages available.
Some half a million Tennessee residents are foreign born, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Among those over age 5, nearly half speak English “less than ‘very well.'”
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