[nfb-talk] Letter To Congressman Cummings:

Fri Apr 24 22:13:39 UTC 2009

Dear Congressman Cummings:

I am writing to ask you to take action on an important, time sensitive 
matter concerning education of blind students and employment of people with 
vision loss and other disabilities. With respect for your time, this summary 
will be brief and somewhat general.  For more detailed information, please 
contact me directly.

The federal Department of Education, DOEd, normally provides the ONLY 
funding used to make educational videos for students accessible for students 
who are blind.  The DOEd annually funds grants which pay audio description 
producers to add audio description to educational videos, so that students 
with visual impairments will have equal access to the information.  Under 
somewhat unusual circumstances, the new grants which were announced for 2009 
have suddenly vanished from the DOEd website.  It is urgent that community 
leaders such as yourself immediately contact  key Congressional 
representatives and demand that the audio description grants be reinstated. 
The unprecedented last minute withdrawal of the grant RFPs announced in 
December 2008 will negatively impact blind students in K-12 classrooms and 
will cost people with disabilities their jobs in media production.  In these 
difficult times, when the Secretary of the Department of Education tells the 
Washington Post about the new record high funding for education that has 
been included in the economic stimulus program, why would the DOEd suddenly 
cut a few million dollars, effectively diminishing the quality of education 
for blind kids and costing people with disabilities their jobs?  Some 
inexplicable politics inside the DOEd could possibly be the cause for this 
sudden, unexpected change of budget priorities, but with enough loud voices 
speaking up immediately, we can restore the grant program to what Congress 
intended it to be.

In December 2008, the Department of Education announced that an application 
period for new competition grants to provide audio description for 
educational videos for blind students would begin in March 2009.  At the 
last minute, in early March, the announcement suddenly disappeared. 
Ordinarily, the grant status would be posted as "canceled" if the program 
were eliminated for some reason.  Whatever the cause for the last minute 
change in budget priorities, we MUST INSIST that blind students NOT be left 
out of the benefits realized from the newly doubled DOEd budget, now $100 
BILLION.  As a totally blind producer of audio description, I will have to 
cancel my plans to hire several blind or disabled professionals, if the 
grants are not reinstated soon.  Please join me in calling, emailing, and 
writing to the legislators who can make a difference and correct this 
oversight.  Please find the enclosed/attached sample letter demanding 
reinstatement of the audio description grants and requesting an 
investigation into the DOEd procedures that lead to this destructive 
decision.  Contact information for key legislators is also provided for your 
convenience.  I am asking that you specifically contact the Secretary of 
Education, Arne Duncan, the Assistant Secretary of Education, Andrew J. 
Pepin, and the chair of the House Committee on Education and Labor, George 
Miller.  We should also send an email to the Special Assistant to the 
President on Disability Policy, Kareem Dale (who is also blind).  Please 
find the enclosed list of House Representatives to facilitate contacting 
your local Representative as well.  DOEd information about the grants in 
question is included below, along with contact info for the individuals 
previously mentioned.

Thank you for your immediate action supporting this effort to reinstate new 
competition grants for audio description of educational materials for 
students with visual impairments.

Sincerely,

Rick Boggs

Mobile: 818-439-9698

www.rickboggs.com

www.AccessibleClassroomVideos.org

Postal:

9250 Reseda Blvd #2b-107

Northridge, CA 91324

DOEd Grant Details:

The following information was listed on the Department of Education's 
Forecast of

Funding Opportunities.

Program Office:

Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)

CFDA Number: 84.327

Program Type: Discretionary/Competitive Grants, Contracts, Cooperative 
Agreements

Also Known As:

Technology and Media Services for Individuals with Disabilities; also known 
as Special

Education-Technology Development, Demonstration, and Utilization; Media 
Services;

and Instructional Materials.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The purpose of this program is to: (1) improve results for children with 
disabilities

by promoting the development, demonstration, and use of technology; (2) 
support educational

media services activities designed to be of value in the classroom setting 
to children

with disabilities; and (3) provide support for captioning and video 
description that

is appropriate for use in the classroom setting.

TYPES OF PROJECTS

This program supports technology development, demonstration, and 
utilization. Educational

media activities, such as video descriptions and captioning of educational 
materials,

also are supported.

KEY Contact Information:

U.S. Department of Education: Promoting Educational Excellence for all 
Americans

Secretary, U.S. Department of Education

ARNE DUNCAN

First Name: ARNE

Last Name: DUNCAN

Primary Phone: (202) 401-3000

Principal Office: (OS) Office of the Secretary

Department of Education Organizational Structure and Offices

E-Mail Address:

arne.duncan at ed.gov

Location

Region: HEADQUARTERS

Building Name: LBJ EDUCATION BUILDING

Building Address: 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20202

Room Number: 7W311

Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Education

ANDREW JOSEPH PEPIN

First Name: ANDREW

Middle Name: J.

Last Name: PEPIN

Primary Phone: (202) 245-7632

Principal Office: (OSERS) Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative 
Services

Department of Education Organizational Structure and Offices

E-Mail Address:

Andrew.Pepin at ed.gov

Location

Region: HEADQUARTERS

Building Name: POTOMAC CENTER PLAZA

Building Address: 550 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20202

Room Number: 5106

The Honorable George Miller Chair

Committee on Education and Labor

Office Phone: (202) 225-2095

Email form on website:

http://georgemiller.house.gov/

2181 Rayburn House Office Building

United States House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20515

Kareem Dale

Disabilities Consultant to the President

Email: Kareem_A._Dale at who.eop.gov