[nfbmi-talk] "Betsy DeVos apparently ‘confused’ about federal law protecting students with disabilities - The Washington Post

[Terry D. Eagle]

Interesting, and I'd want to see data on the number of students with disAbilities that have been served by Michigan charter schools, and how those students compare in performance and achieving grade level standards compared to their non-disabled peers.  The outcome proof is in achievement data.  I presume such data is not readily available for Michigan charter schools, as these schools have notoriously not been transparent in providing such data to education policy-makers, let alone the public.  As long as any school receives taxpayer dollars, they ought to be transparent and accountable for performance achievement standards by all students, and qualified educators subject to performance standards.  

-----Original Message-----
From: NFBMI-Talk [mailto:nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Christine Boone via NFBMI-Talk
Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2017 9:16 PM
To: NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Christine Boone <christineboone2 at gmail.com>; Chris Cripe <ChrisCripe65 at gmail.com>; Joe Harcz <JoeHarcz at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] "Betsy DeVos apparently ‘confused’ about federal law protecting students with disabilities - The Washington Post

I am reluctant to call myself an expert, but I spent 8 years in Michigan, and when I was not directing the Training Center where Michigan's young blind students were trying to overcome the dismal treatment and education they received in our state's schools, I did some private consultation and represented parents who tried the option of both private and charter schools.  The Low Incidence outreach program is the only game in town when it comes to supporting Michigan's blind and visually impaired students.  They are the state's special education program for children with sensory impairments and also work under the authority of the Federal Department of Education. 
They work with local school districts providing support and consultation and the vast majority of the TCVIs (teachers of children with visual impairment) are graduates of Western Michigan University.  I do not know whether Eastern Michigan University in Ipselanti has been able to reopen it's special education teacher preparation program but I have not heard that this was the case. The Low Incidence program provides very good support for low vision students who are not legally blind (as long as they have an acuity of 20/70 or less. They also do a nice job of supporting kids who are legally blind and who have a high degree of residual vision.  Children who are totally blind are generally taught to read Braille, but it is not uncommon for these students to take 5 years of schooling or longer to learn the entire Braille system while their sighted classmates have print learned in a year...with extra support and high expectations if they require more than 2 years to learn the print system. 

I have found Charter school and private school administrators to be fairly willing and even eager to provide appropriate services. I found these schools to be excited about the opportunities that they could provide to a blind or vision impaired child...right up to the time when they contacted the Low Incidence program. They return to these parents, who have dared to hope- and explain that there are not enough TCVIs in the state, and that most blind children really don't need that much support anyway. They offer large print, good lighting, and a simpler curriculum. If the child's vision is good enough, they even seek for the child to use regular print. These schools have also been pretty willing to offer Kindle readers and IPads for these kids. If a child is well and truly blind, the Oral Education is more and more frequently suggested for kids, especially if they happen to have even the slightestkind of learning disability. These children will do just fine with doing all of their reading and learning using the text to speech option. Braille is of course the last choice. I have had parents who find good teachers who live in other states and who are willing to work with them. This has been permitted but these teachers must first receive their Michigan endorsement...even if a child needs to wait for several additional weeks without an instructor while the teacher completes these requirements.  
Perhaps others have had different, better, more promising experiences.  I encourage them to share these on this list. This is simply what I and the several families with whom I worked had to manage in Michigan. . 

≈Boone Christine Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 18, 2017, at 3:16 PM, Kane Brolin via NFBMI-Talk <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

I'm looking for a little experiencial knowledge here, since Ms. DeVos
is a product of Holland, Michigan and a long-time advocate for "school
choice."  I'm all about religious freedom; but how informed is she
about the choices that disabled students are entitled to under
existing law?

Treatment of Ms. DeVos' testimony in "The Washington Post" is
disturbing enough that I think I'm going to dial up the entire archive
of this hearing on C-SPAN and listen to it before phoning my senators'
offices in DC.

Has anyone on this list got experience about how blind students fare
in charter schools or religiously-based parochial schools in Michigan?
See below.

"Betsy DeVos displayed at best confusion and at worst a lack of
knowledge about a key federal law involving students with disabilities
during her Tuesday confirmation hearing before a Senate panel that
will vote on whether she should become President-elect Donald Trump’s
education secretary.

"Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) asked DeVos about the federal Individuals With
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which requires public schools to
provide children with disabilities a “free appropriate public
education” and governs how states and public agencies provide various
services to millions of students.

"Kaine asked her if she believes that all schools that receive federal
funding — whether public, public charter or private — should be
required to meet the requirements of IDEA.

"She responded: “I think they already are.”

"Kaine: “But I’m asking you a should question. Whether they are or
not, we’ll get into that later.” He then repeated his question.

"DeVos said: “I think that is a matter that is best left to the
states.'" https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/01/17/betsy-devos-confused-about-federal-law-protecting-students-with-disabilities/?utm_term=.31dbc8e0ce18

C-SPAN's archive of this hearing is found at
https://www.c-span.org/video/?421224-1/education-secretary-nominee-betsy-devos-testifies-confirmation-hearing.

-Kane

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