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<font face="Book Antiqua, Bookman" size=2> <br>
</font>Fellow Federationists:<br>
<br>
I am writing to inform you of a Dear Colleague letter that was circulated
yesterday by Senators Murray, Boozman, and Harkin related to the
instruction of Braille for blind students. <br>
<br>
We have been working with Senator Murray on this issue, and are excited
that the letter was released for other Senators to sign onto in
support. As you know many blind students are not receiving Braille
instruction today, despite the language contained in the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which states that Braille will be the
primary reading media for blind students. Senator Murray will hold
her letter open through Friday, April 27, for other senators to sign
onto, and then she will send the letter to the Secretary of Education
Arne Duncan. <br>
<br>
Attached is a copy of the Dear Colleague letter that was
circulated. We are asking you to contact your senators and urge
them to join with Senators Murray and Boozman in support of instruction
of Braille for blind students. Also attached is a state-by-state
list of contacts for this issue. Please note that Republican
offices should contact Ian Prince in Senator Boozman’s office, while
Democrats should be directed to Jake Cornett in Senator Murray’s
office. We are pleased that Chairman Harkin of the Senate Committee
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and Senator Mikulski of
Maryland have already joined as cosigners of the Dear Colleague
letter. <br>
<br>
Please contact me with any questions you may have. Thank you all in
advance for your work on this important issue for blind students.<br>
<br>
Jesse<br>
<br>
Jesse Hartle<br>
National Federation of the Blind<br>
Government Programs Specialist<br>
Phone: 410-659-9314, Ext. 2233<br>
Email:
<a href="mailto:jhartle@nfb.org"><font color="#0000FF"><u>
jhartle@nfb.org</a><br>
</u></font><font face="Times New Roman, Times"> <br>
</font><font face="Book Antiqua, Bookman" size=2> <br>
</font>Content-Type: application/msword; name="Dear Colleague -
Cosign Bipartisan"<br>
Braille Literacy Letter to Duncan.doc"<br>
Content-Description: Dear Colleague - Cosign Bipartisan Braille
Literacy<br>
Letter to Duncan.doc<br>
Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="Dear Colleague -
Cosign"<br>
Bipartisan Braille Literacy Letter to Duncan.doc";
size=27648;<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>
creation-date="Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:58:38 GMT";<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>
modification-date="Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:59:16 GMT"<br><br>
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