<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div>Another victory for NFB! Read below.</div><div>Cathy<br><br>Sent from my iPhone</div><div><br>Begin forwarded message:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><b>From:</b> "Freeh, Jessica" <<a href="mailto:JFreeh@nfb.org">JFreeh@nfb.org</a>><br><b>Date:</b> February 24, 2014, 8:21:49 AM EST<br><b>To:</b> "State President, Puerto Rico" <<a href="mailto:arguza@attglobal.net">arguza@attglobal.net</a>>, "State President, Nebraska" <<a href="mailto:amy.buresh74@gmail.com">amy.buresh74@gmail.com</a>>, "State President, Connecticut" <<a href="mailto:erival@comcast.net">erival@comcast.net</a>>, "State President, Arizona" <<a href="mailto:krezguy@cox.net">krezguy@cox.net</a>>, "State President, New York" <<a href="mailto:office@nfbny.org">office@nfbny.org</a>>, "State President, Oregon" <<a href="mailto:president@nfb-oregon.org">president@nfb-oregon.org</a>>, "State President, Kentucky" <<a href="mailto:cathyj1949@gmail.com">cathyj1949@gmail.com</a>>, Charlene Smyth <<a href="mailto:cs.nfbwv@verizon.net">cs.nfbwv@verizon.net</a>>, "State President, Vermont" <<a href="mailto:deannaljones@comcast.net">deannaljones@comcast.net</a>>, "State President, North Dakota" <<a href="mailto:diverson@midco.net">diverson@midco.net</a>>, "State President, Idaho" <<a href="mailto:elsiedickerson@ymail.com">elsiedickerson@ymail.com</a>>, "State President, Ohio" <<a href="mailto:eduffy@pobox.com">eduffy@pobox.com</a>>, "Schroeder, Fred" <<a href="mailto:fschroeder@sks.com">fschroeder@sks.com</a>>, "State President, North Carolina" <<a href="mailto:ghraynfbofnc@charter.net">ghraynfbofnc@charter.net</a>>, "State President, Missouri" <<a href="mailto:gwunder@earthlink.net">gwunder@earthlink.net</a>>, "State President, Montana" <<a href="mailto:jkaldrich@samobile.net">jkaldrich@samobile.net</a>>, "State President, Pennsylvania" <<a href="mailto:president@nfbp.org">president@nfbp.org</a>>, "State President, Tennessee" <<a href="mailto:nfb.tennessee@gmail.com">nfb.tennessee@gmail.com</a>>, "State President, Minnesota" <<a href="mailto:jennifer.dunnam1829@gmail.com">jennifer.dunnam1829@gmail.com</a>>, "State President, Alaska" <<a href="mailto:jnhburton@gci.net">jnhburton@gci.net</a>>, Joe Ruffalo <<a href="mailto:nfbnj@yahoo.com">nfbnj@yahoo.com</a>>, "State President, Wisconsin" <<a href="mailto:johnfritz66@gmail.com">johnfritz66@gmail.com</a>>, "State President, Wyoming" <<a href="mailto:kthornbury@bresnan.net">kthornbury@bresnan.net</a>>, "State President, South Dakota" <<a href="mailto:gatorbumps@rushmore.com">gatorbumps@rushmore.com</a>>, Kimberly Flores <<a href="mailto:kimberly.aguillard@gmail.com">kimberly.aguillard@gmail.com</a>>, "State President, Massachusetts" <<a href="mailto:kshachmut@nfbma.org">kshachmut@nfbma.org</a>>, "State President, Maine" <<a href="mailto:leonproctorjr@yahoo.com">leonproctorjr@yahoo.com</a>>, "State President, Delaware" <<a href="mailto:lynne.majewski@gmail.com">lynne.majewski@gmail.com</a>>, "State President, California" <<a href="mailto:mwillows@sbcglobal.net">mwillows@sbcglobal.net</a>>, "State President, Maryland" <<a href="mailto:melissa@riccobono.us">melissa@riccobono.us</a>>, "State President, Iowa" <<a href="mailto:michael.nfbi@gmail.com">michael.nfbi@gmail.com</a>>, "State President, Washington" <<a href="mailto:k7uij@panix.com">k7uij@panix.com</a>>, "State President, Hawaii" <<a href="mailto:nanifife@aol.com">nanifife@aol.com</a>>, "State President, Louisiana" <<a href="mailto:pallen@lcb-ruston.com">pallen@lcb-ruston.com</a>>, "State President, South Carolina" <<a href="mailto:parnell@sccoast.net">parnell@sccoast.net</a>>, "State President, Illinois" <<a href="mailto:pattischang@gmail.com">pattischang@gmail.com</a>>, "Brown, Ron" <<a href="mailto:RB15@iquest.net">RB15@iquest.net</a>>, "State President, Mississippi" <<a href="mailto:sgleese@city.jackson.ms.us">sgleese@city.jackson.ms.us</a>>, "State President, Colorado" <<a href="mailto:slabarre@labarrelaw.com">slabarre@labarrelaw.com</a>>, "State President, Alabama" <<a href="mailto:joy.harris@dwx.com">joy.harris@dwx.com</a>>, "State President, Arkansas" <<a href="mailto:tosheeler@cox.net">tosheeler@cox.net</a>>, "State President, District of Columbia" <<a href="mailto:callaway.shawn@gmail.com">callaway.shawn@gmail.com</a>>, "State President, Florida" <<a href="mailto:danjhicks@yahoo.com">danjhicks@yahoo.com</a>>, "State President, Georgia" <<a href="mailto:gscott@nfbga.org">gscott@nfbga.org</a>>, "State President, Michigan" <<a href="mailto:president.nfb.mi@gmail.com">president.nfb.mi@gmail.com</a>>, "State President, Nevada" <<a href="mailto:realhappygirl1@gmail.com">realhappygirl1@gmail.com</a>>, "State President, New Hampshire" <<a href="mailto:cemcnabb21@yahoo.com">cemcnabb21@yahoo.com</a>>, "State President, New Mexico" <<a href="mailto:avigil74@gmail.com">avigil74@gmail.com</a>>, "State President, Oklahoma" <<a href="mailto:jmassay1@cox.net">jmassay1@cox.net</a>>, "State President, Rhode Island" <<a href="mailto:silvara@cox.net">silvara@cox.net</a>>, "State President, Utah" <<a href="mailto:baconev@yahoo.com">baconev@yahoo.com</a>>, "State President, Kansas" <<a href="mailto:topage@swbell.net">topage@swbell.net</a>><br><b>Subject:</b> <b>National Federation of the Blind Applauds Settlement with PARCC, Inc.</b><br><br></div></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><div>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt">CONTACT:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Chris Danielsen<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Director of Public Relations<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">National Federation of the Blind<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">(410) 659-9314, extension 2330<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">(410) 262-1281 (Cell)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:cdanielsen@nfb.org"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">cdanielsen@nfb.org</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b>National Federation of the Blind Applauds Settlement
<br>
with PARCC, Inc.<o:p></o:p></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Settlement Will Make K-12 Assessments Accessible to Blind Students<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt">New Milford, New Jersey (February 24, 2014):</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt">
</span><a href="http://www.nfb.org"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">The National Federation of the Blind (NFB)</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt"> today applauded a settlement agreement reached among itself, its affiliate organizations the NFB of New Jersey
and the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC), the parents of a blind high school student in New Milford (named in the suit as S.H.) and PARCC, Inc., a nonprofit corporation that was established in 2013 by the Partnership for Assessment
of Readiness for College and Careers, a consortium currently made up of eighteen states, including New Jersey and the District of Columbia. The settlement resolves
</span><a href="https://nfb.org/national-federation-blind-and-parents-blind-child-file-suit-make-k-12-assessments-accessible"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">a suit filed in late January</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt"> by the NFB, its affiliates, and
the parents of the student because assessment tests created by PARCC, Inc. that will be field tested at S.H.’s high school and other locations this spring were not accessible to students who are blind. Under the terms of the settlement, PARCC will make its
practice tests accessible to blind students by the time the tests are deployed in Spring 2014, and will consult with the NFB to ensure that all subsequent practice tests and assessments will be available at the time of deployment in accessible formats used
by blind test takers, including Braille files for embossing in hard-copy Braille or via electronic access methods such as refreshable Braille displays and text-to-speech screen reader software.
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: “Blind students are far too often forced to wait for equal access to educational materials, and as a result end up lagging far behind
their sighted peers in academics. This important settlement will address that problem by ensuring that PARCC’s assessments and practice tests are accessible to blind students at the same time that they are deployed to all students. We applaud PARCC’s commitment
to working with us to ensure that blind students are not left behind in the academic assessment process and will be able to receive timely and accurate measurement of their academic performance.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">The NFB, NFB of New Jersey, NOPBC, and the parents of S.H. were represented in this matter by Jayne Wesler of the New Jersey firm Sussan, Greenwald & Wesler; Scott LaBarre of the Denver firm LaBarre Law Offices;
and Dan Goldstein, Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum, and Trevor Coe of the Baltimore firm Brown, Goldstein & Levy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">About the National Federation of the Blind<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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<span class="bumpedfont15">The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is the oldest, largest, and most influential nationwide membership organization of blind people in the United States. Founded in 1940, the NFB advocates for the civil rights and equality
of blind Americans, and develops innovative education, technology, and training programs to provide the blind and those who are losing vision with the tools they need to become independent and successful.
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