[nfbmi-talk] Goodwill's Local School Initiative: Rose Sloan'sAdditional Comments

[joe harcz Comcast]

I think an issue being ignored here Kane, or perhaps just not adressed is: 
"Are these proposed charter schools, no matter the source, going to be in 
ffull compliance with IDEA, Section 504 and the ADA; as they areindeed 
publicly funded as are all charters?" And, of course, from our standpoint 
are they to be fully accessable, non-discriminatory and equipped to educate, 
on par with other similar institutions, people who are blind?

There are hundreds if not thousands of people who are blind in this state 
who for a variety of reasons have not obtained a high school diploma and 
there is a need for such remedial educational facilities in my opinion. But 
I wish for them, again to actually be equipped to educate the very people 
with disabilities, including the blind they are promoting themselves for.

I've seen similar programs developed and the only people really accommodated 
are those with reading disorders, mental illness and substance abuse. People 
with profound physical, and sensory disabilities are left out.

Anyway food for thought.

Joe
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kane Brolin via nfbmi-talk" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
To: "NFB of Michiana Mailing List" <nfbofmichiana at googlegroups.com>
Cc: "NFB of Indiana Mailing List" <nfb-indiana at yahoogroups.com>; "NFB of 
Michigan Internet Mailing List" <NFBMI-Talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2014 12:21 PM
Subject: [nfbmi-talk] Goodwill's Local School Initiative: Rose 
Sloan'sAdditional Comments


>I thought all of us in the movement throughout Indiana and Michigan
> might benefit from these comments that Rose Sloan from the national
> office made to me earlier today.
>
> For those who haven't been a part of this conversation before, a
> little background:  This past Friday, Goodwill Industries of Michiana,
> Inc., advertised on a local radio station that they wish to open a
> state-sponsored charter school so that adults in north-central Indiana
> who haven't yet completed high school can earn a legitimate high
> school diploma--more than a GED.  My initial reaction as a
> Federationist was to protest this, given that it's Goodwill.  But Rose
> Sloan explains below that (1) not all Goodwill subsidiaries are
> equivalent in respect to their policy toward subminimum wages, and (2)
> a Goodwill Industries subsidiary's linkage to a school might disable
> that subsidiary from taking advantage of a subminimum wage certificate
> even if it wants to do so.  So now it appears that strategically we as
> Federationists should take a position in support of Goodwill
> Industries of Michiana's effort in the direction of starting this
> charter school.  And there could be others in Northwest Indiana as
> well.  My preliminary research shows that Ivy Tech Community College
> does not have this exact type of program, and when they did it was
> geared toward the GED and not toward an official high school diploma.
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "Sloan, Rose" <rsloan at nfb.org>
> Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 12:12:32 +0000
> Subject: RE: Addressing A Local Goodwill Initiative: Thanks For Your 
> Suggestions
> To: Kane Brolin <kbrolin65 at gmail.com>
> Cc: "Pare, John" <JPare at nfb.org>, "Lewis, Anil" <ALewis at nfb.org>,
> "Brown, Ron" <RB15 at iquest.net>
>
> Hi Kane,
>
> Interestingly enough, the majority of Goodwill Industries do not have
> special wage certificates.  According to Goodwill, only 64 of their
> 165 affiliates are special wage certificate holding entities.  It is a
> local decision.  While we, in general, encourage everyone to boycott
> Goodwill (since many of the non-certificate holding entities defend
> the practice of their certificate-holding counterparts), there are
> some Goodwills doing the right thing.  For example, the Goodwill of
> Northern New England actually has a statement on their website that
> says that they pay all of their employees at least the minimum wage,
> and they "support public policy initiatives that align with [their]
> commitment to always meet or exceed minimum wage for all workers."
>
> And just one more note.  According to the recently passed Workforce
> Innovation and Opportunity Act, as of July 2016, schools will no
> longer be allowed to contract with entities that hold 14(c)
> certificates.
>
> Please continue to spread awareness about Goodwill's policies and
> advocacy.  And again, thanks so much for your interest in this topic.
>
> Best,
>
> Rose
>
> Rose Sloan
> Government Affairs Specialist
> NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
>
> "Eliminating Subminimum Wages for People with Disabilities"
> http://www.nfb.org/fairwages
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kane Brolin [mailto:kbrolin65 at gmail.com]
> Sent: Monday, September 15, 2014 5:48 PM
> To: Sloan, Rose
> Cc: Pare, John; Lewis, Anil; Brown, Ron
> Subject: Addressing A Local Goodwill Initiative: Thanks For Your 
> Suggestions
>
> On 9/15/14, Sloan, Rose <rsloan at nfb.org> wrote:
>> On a different note, has the radio station contacted you?  Did you get
>> any responses to your social media plugs?
>
> So far, no response whatsoever from the radio station or from anyone
> who might have been tracking its Facebook page or Twitter feed.  I am
> hoping that this might have raised at least enough awareness so that
> conscientious members of the public (aside from the few of us who make
> up NFB Michiana) will show up and ask some pointed questions at the
> public hearing tomorrow.
>
> Rose and John, your point about Goodwill having different regional
> corporate structures, and thus needing to approach each in a different
> way publicly, is fascinating.  I really hadn't thought of it in that
> light before.  This is why I'm glad I centered my social network posts
> on published outside sources, not just on my own beliefs.
> Additionally, I'm glad I contacted the national office prior to
> sticking my neck all the way out and prior to our chapter's coming out
> with a formal position statement on this particular high school
> initiative.  I would have presumed that Goodwill of Northern Indiana
> would be a recipient of the same Section 14(c) privileges as Goodwill
> Industries International.  But if this is not truly the case, it is
> important to take note of such a subtlety and to act accordingly.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> -Kane
>
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