<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">Greetings fellow Federationists:<div> I draw your attention to the announcement below from John Pare. Please visit our NFB website and check out the information provided there on the pending staffing cuts at the Department of Education. These cuts will significantly impact vocational rehabilitation and special education programs for people who are blind and visually impaired. I ask all of you to familiarize yourselves with these issues as much as you possibly can. If you have questions after reading the information at NFB.org, please email or call me. My email is: Christineboone2@gmail.com and my phone number is: 269-329-8500. Thank you for your attention to this vitally important matter. <div>Yours in Federationism,</div><div> Christine<br id="lineBreakAtBeginningOfSignature"><div dir="ltr">Christine L. Boone, J.D., 1st Vice President,</div><div dir="ltr">National Federation Of The Blind of Nebraska </div><div dir="ltr"><br>Begin forwarded message:<br><br></div><div dir="ltr"><b>From:</b> "Pare, John via NFB-Legislative-Directors" <nfb-legislative-directors@nfbnet.org><br><b>Date:</b> October 23, 2025 at 6:58:14\u202fPM CDT<br><b>To:</b> State Presidents <StatePresidents@nfb.org>, NFB Legislative Directors List <nfb-legislative-directors@nfbnet.org><br><b>Cc:</b> "Pare, John" <JPare@nfb.org><br><b>Subject:</b> <b>[NFB-Legislative-Directors] Department of Education RIF - Fact Sheet and Mock Meeting Recording</b><br><b>Reply-To:</b> NFB Legislative Directors List <nfb-legislative-directors@nfbnet.org><br><br></div><div dir="ltr">\ufeff
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)">
<!--[if !mso]><style>v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style><![endif]--><style>@font-face { font-family: "Cambria Math"; }
@font-face { font-family: Calibri; }
@font-face { font-family: Aptos; }
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; }
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink { color: rgb(70, 120, 134); text-decoration: underline; }
span.EmailStyle17 { font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; color: windowtext; }
.MsoChpDefault { }
@page WordSection1 { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 1in; }
div.WordSection1 { page: WordSection1; }</style>
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal">Dear Affiliate Presidents and Legislative Directors:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I wanted to write a quick email to thank all of you for your willingness to jump right in an advocate against the Reductions in Force (RIF) at the Department of Education. Lindsey has received multiple calls and email from affiliates seeking
contact information for different district offices, and Kyle has also received messages from affiliates who have already scheduled meetings. I encourage you to keep it up!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Additionally, I wanted to draw your attention to the <a href="https://nfb.org/programs-services/advocacy/legislative-priorities/preserving-office-special-education-and">
Department of Education RIF Fact Sheet</a> that is currently on our legislative priorities page. Please use this sheet to study and learn the issue so that we can all deliver the same unified message to our members of Congress.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Finally, I also wanted to let all of you know that we have recorded a mock meeting specifically for this issue that can also be found under the Mock Meetings heading on our
<a href="https://nfb.org/programs-services/advocacy/legislative-priorities">legislative priorities page</a>. You don\u2019t have to follow the language of the meeting exactly, in fact, we encourage you to personalize the issues if applicable, so that the members
of the Senate and House will see that their constituents will be hurt by the RIF. Special thanks to Barbara Manuel and Corbb O\u2019Connor for helping us to record this meeting.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We look forward to hearing all of your reports from the meetings with your senators and representatives, and we thank you again for your enthusiasm and tenacity to ensure that the rights of the blind will be protected!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Warm regards,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">John<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#242424;mso-ligatures:none">John Paré<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#242424;mso-ligatures:none">Executive Director for Advocacy and Policy</span><span style="mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#242424;mso-ligatures:none">200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230</span><span style="mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#242424;mso-ligatures:none">410-659-9314, extension 2218 |
</span><u><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#0563C1;mso-ligatures:none"><a href="mailto:jpare@nfb.org">jpare@nfb.org</a></span></u><span style="mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#242424;mso-ligatures:none"> </span><span style="mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="color:black"><a href="https://nfb.org/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#0563C1;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="210" height="75" style="width:2.1833in;height:.7833in" id="_x0000_i1028" src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/email/2/nfblogo.png" alt="National Federation of the Blind" data-unique-identifier=""></span></a></span><span style="mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#242424;mso-ligatures:none"> </span><span style="mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#242424;mso-ligatures:none"> </span><span style="color:black"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#0563C1;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="24" height="24" style="width:.25in;height:.25in" id="_x0000_i1027" src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/email/2/facebook.png" alt="Facebook" data-unique-identifier=""></span></a></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#242424;mso-ligatures:none">
</span><span style="color:black"><a href="https://twitter.com/NFB_Voice" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#0563C1;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="24" height="24" style="width:.25in;height:.25in" id="_x0000_i1026" src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/email/2/twitter.png" alt="Twitter" data-unique-identifier=""></span></a></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#242424;mso-ligatures:none">
</span><span style="color:black"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/NationsBlind" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#0563C1;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="24" height="24" style="width:.25in;height:.25in" id="_x0000_i1025" src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/email/2/youtube.png" alt="Youtube" data-unique-identifier=""></span></a></span><span style="mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#242424;mso-ligatures:none"> </span><span style="mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#242424;mso-ligatures:none">The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation\u2019s blind. Every
day we work together to help blind people live the lives they want.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<span>_______________________________________________</span><br><span>NFB-Legislative-Directors mailing list</span><br><span>NFB-Legislative-Directors@nfbnet.org</span><br><span>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-legislative-directors_nfbnet.org</span><br><span>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for NFB-Legislative-Directors:</span><br><span>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfb-legislative-directors_nfbnet.org/christineboone2%40gmail.com</span><br></div></div></div></body></html>