[nfbmi-talk] Teach Act

Elizabeth Mohnke lizmohnke at hotmail.com
Tue Jun 10 15:24:48 UTC 2014


Hello All,

Has anyone sent any emails to the Republican Members of Congress from
Michigan yet? Based on our meetings during Washington Seminar, Congressman
Kerry Bentivolio gave us a verbal commitment to co-sponsor H.R. 3505.
However, according to the co-sponsor list, it appears as though he has yet
to sign on as a co-sponsor of this bill. 

If you only have the time to send out one email this week, I would encourage
you to send it to the office of Congressman Kerry Bentivolio. The contact
person for his office is Shelby Emmett, and the email address is
shelby.emmett at mail.house.gov. 

if you would like the names and contacts for other Republican Members of
congress from Michigan, please contact Mary Ann Robinson. Her email address
is brightsmile1953 at comcast.net. She has the list of all the Republican
contacts, and would be more than willing to share this information with you.

If we all take the time to work together, we can definitely change what it
means to be blind.

Warm regards,
Elizabeth
-----Original Message-----
From: nfbmi-talk [mailto:nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Larry
Posont via nfbmi-talk
Sent: Saturday, June 07, 2014 6:24 PM
To: nfbmi-talk
Subject: [nfbmi-talk] Teach Act

National Federation of the Blind of Michigan
7189 Connors Rd.
Munising, MI 49862

June 6, 2014

Dear Michigan Federationists:

     I am sending a message from Lauren McLaarney concerning a Republican
blitz to be held for the Teach Act this next Monday through Friday. Please
participate in this as extensively as you can.

Sincerely,
Larry Posont
President
 National Federation of the Blind of Michigan
 (906) 387-3546
Email: president.nfb.mi at gmail.com
 Web page: www.nfbmi.org

Munising home of the beautiful Pictured Rocks.
Hi Friends,

Next week, we need everyone to mobilize for the TEACH Act! From Monday
through Friday, we will run a Republican Blitz, where everybody contacts the
Republican members of Congress from their state delegation and urges them to
cosponsor the TEACH Act, H.R. 3505 and S.
2060. The goal is to get a huge influx of cosponsors.

This is a pivotal time. The TEACH Act is non-controversial, but the upcoming
elections will limit our opportunities to pass the bill this Congress. We
truly believe this bill has a chance, so we are going to take a real shot at
trying to get this done. Consequently, we're planning an important meeting
with a higher education association to bring the schools on board, and then
plan to meet with the Chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee to
explore about our options. We want to go into that meeting with the most
cosponsors as possible, particularly from the majority party. Currently,
H.R. 3505 has forty-two, with fifteen Republicans, twenty-seven Democrats.
If we can get thirteen more Republicans we will be at fifty-five cosponsors
and have an almost-even twenty-eight/twenty-seven breakdown. S. 2060 just
got two new cosponsors, Senators Bennet and Ayotte. We are at an even two
and two (for a total of four) and even though the Democrats are the majority
party in the Senate, we already have a few waiting in the wings. We want to
keep it even and won't send them on until we secure a few more Republicans.
Let's build on this momentum!

A few things to note:
1)      This is a BLITZ. That means we need lots of people to send
lots of emails, not just one or two people. Even if it's not your member of
Congress, if they are a Republican in your state delegation, email them!
Let's make it a digital version of the Washington Seminar, but just limited
to the Republican offices.
2)      Send your correspondence to the education staffer. If you
don't know who the education staffer is, just call the office and ask, or
shoot me an email.
3)      Know your audience. Some things are universal to advocacy,
like telling your personal story and explaining what the bill does, but the
points you emphasize to a Democrat might not be the best points to emphasize
to a Republican. For the TEACH Act, it's best to emphasize how the
guidelines are voluntary, that we are trying to help schools better comply
with the law and avoid litigation, which in turn helps blind students, and
that the industry supports the bill.
4)      Personalize your letters. Offices know a block/form letter
when they see one. I've provided a sample letter below, but please make
edits before sending. If you're from a state where a particular school has
faced a lawsuit related to this, add it in. If another Republican from your
state has cosponsored, mention it.
5)      Feel free to tweet or call, but in addition to emails rather
than as a substitute. Some sample tweets: "Blind students need access to
materials, help spur the market! Cosponsor the #TEACHAct" or "Blind students
are being left behind and schools are being sued. The #TEACHAct is an easy
fix. Will you cosponsor?" or "When blind students get to college, we need
books. Publishers support the #TEACHAct, do you?" or "Congressman X and
Congressman X have cosponsored the #TEACHAct. Join your delegation!" or even
"Support Mr. Petri before he retires by cosponsoring #TEACHAct, a bill that
improves access for the blind in higher ed!"

I'll be sending out reminders periodically next week. I hope everyone can
help us reach our goal and we can increase the chances of passing the TEACH
Act. Let's face it, not only is the bill non-controversial, but blind
students cannot afford to wait. Thanks guys!

Cheers,
Lauren

Sample letter:

Hello [Education Staffer's first name],

I am writing on behalf of the National Federation of the Blind of [your
affiliate]. We last met with your office in January to discuss our
legislative agenda, and one of those bills was the Technology, Education and
Accessibility in College and Higher Education (TEACH) Act, H.R. 3505/S.2060.
It has been a few months so I wanted to circle back and ask that
Congressman/Congresswoman [Name] will come on as a cosponsor. The bill is
non-controversial and bipartisan - can we count on [his/her] support?

A quick reminder: Inaccessible educational technology is creating profound
barriers to education for students with disabilities. The TEACH Act
authorizes the creation of voluntary accessibility guidelines for
instructional material so that those materials are usable by students with
print disabilities, and then incentivizes schools to use technology that
conforms to the guidelines with a safe harbor from litigation. The goal of
the guidelines is to facilitate the equal access mandates that require
schools to use accessible materials by stimulating the creation of a viable
digital marketplace.
By facilitating the national mandate and the national market, we can provide
equal access for blind students without infringing on states'
rights. This bill is appealing to those on both sides of the aisle, is
endorsed by a major industry group, and is supported by data from a
Congressionally-authorized study. The TEACH Act does not create any new
liability for schools or create any mandates on technology companies, and
reduces costs and litigation while still making systemic change for blind
students. [H.R. 3505/S. 2060] is sponsored by [Tom Petri in the House/our
Republican leader is Orrin Hatch] - will your boss join them as a cosponsor?

Over 160,000 people, many from our state, have signed this petition on
Change.org,
http://www.change.org/petitions/pass-teach-act-equal-access-to-educational-m
aterials-for-students-with-disabilities
, showing widespread support for this modest approach to a disgraceful
problem. Blind students can't afford to wait, so please let me know if there
are questions. For more information, please visit https://nfb.org/TEACH .
Thanks, hope to hear from you!

Sincerely,
[Your name]


Lauren McLarney
Government Affairs Specialist
National Federation of the Blind
200 East Wells Street
Baltimore, MD 21230
410.659.9314 ext. 2207
LMcLarney at nfb.org

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