Dear

I am writing to ask you to take action on an important, time sensitive matter concerning education of blind students and employment of people with vision loss and other disabilities. With respect for your time, this summary will be brief and somewhat general.  For more detailed information, please contact me directly.

The federal Department of Education, DOEd, normally provides the ONLY funding used to make educational videos for students accessible for students who are blind.  The DOEd annually funds grants which pay audio description producers to add audio description to educational videos, so that students with visual impairments will have equal access to the information.  Under somewhat unusual circumstances, the new grants which were announced for 2009 have suddenly vanished from the DOEd website.  It is urgent that community leaders such as yourself immediately contact  key Congressional representatives and demand that the audio description grants be reinstated. The unprecedented last minute withdrawal of the grant RFPs announced in December 2008 will negatively impact blind students in K-12 classrooms and will cost people with disabilities their jobs in media production.  In these difficult times, when the Secretary of the Department of Education tells the Washington Post about the new record high funding for education that has been included in the economic stimulus program, why would the DOEd suddenly cut a few million dollars, effectively diminishing the quality of education for blind kids and costing people with disabilities their jobs?  Some inexplicable politics inside the DOEd could possibly be the cause for this sudden, unexpected change of budget priorities, but with enough loud voices speaking up immediately, we can restore the grant program to what Congress intended it to be.  

In December 2008, the Department of Education announced that an application period for new competition grants to provide audio description for educational videos for blind students would begin in March 2009.  At the last minute, in early March, the announcement suddenly disappeared.  Ordinarily, the grant status would be posted as "canceled" if the program were eliminated for some reason.  Whatever the cause for the last minute change in budget priorities, we MUST INSIST that blind students NOT be left out of the benefits realized from the newly doubled DOEd budget, now $100 BILLION.  As a totally blind producer of audio description, I will have to cancel my plans to hire several blind or disabled professionals, if the grants are not reinstated soon.  Please join me in calling, emailing, and writing to the legislators who can make a difference and correct this oversight.  Please find the enclosed/attached sample letter demanding reinstatement of the audio description grants and requesting an investigation into the DOEd procedures that lead to this destructive decision.  Contact information for key legislators is also provided for your convenience.  I am asking that you specifically contact the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, the Assistant Secretary of Education, Andrew J. Pepin, and the chair of the House Committee on Education and Labor, George Miller.  We should also send an email to the Special Assistant to the President on Disability Policy, Kareem Dale (who is also blind).  Please find the enclosed list of House Representatives to facilitate contacting your local Representative as well.  DOEd information about the grants in question is included below, along with contact info for the individuals previously mentioned.

Thank you for your immediate action supporting this effort to reinstate new competition grants for audio description of educational materials for students with visual impairments.

Sincerely,
Rick Boggs
Mobile: 818-439-9698
www.rickboggs.com
www.AccessibleClassroomVideos.org
Postal:
9250 Reseda Blvd #2b-107
Northridge, CA 91324

DOEd Grant Details:
The following information was listed on the Department of Education’s Forecast of
Funding Opportunities.
Program Office:
Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)
CFDA Number: 84.327
Program Type: Discretionary/Competitive Grants, Contracts, Cooperative Agreements
Also Known As:
Technology and Media Services for Individuals with Disabilities; also known as Special
Education-Technology Development, Demonstration, and Utilization; Media Services;
and Instructional Materials.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The purpose of this program is to: (1) improve results for children with disabilities
by promoting the development, demonstration, and use of technology; (2) support educational
media services activities designed to be of value in the classroom setting to children
with disabilities; and (3) provide support for captioning and video description that
is appropriate for use in the classroom setting.
TYPES OF PROJECTS
This program supports technology development, demonstration, and utilization. Educational
media activities, such as video descriptions and captioning of educational materials,
also are supported.

KEY Contact Information:
U.S. Department of Education: Promoting Educational Excellence for all Americans

Secretary, U.S. Department of Education
ARNE DUNCAN
First Name: ARNE
Last Name: DUNCAN
Primary Phone: (202) 401-3000
Principal Office: (OS) Office of the Secretary
Department of Education Organizational Structure and Offices
E-Mail Address:
arne.duncan@ed.gov
Location
Region: HEADQUARTERS
Building Name: LBJ EDUCATION BUILDING
Building Address: 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20202
Room Number: 7W311

Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Education
ANDREW JOSEPH PEPIN
First Name: ANDREW
Middle Name: J.
Last Name: PEPIN
Primary Phone: (202) 245-7632
Principal Office: (OSERS) Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
Department of Education Organizational Structure and Offices
E-Mail Address:
Andrew.Pepin@ed.gov
Location
Region: HEADQUARTERS
Building Name: POTOMAC CENTER PLAZA
Building Address: 550 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20202
Room Number: 5106

The Honorable George Miller Chair
Committee on Education and Labor
Office Phone: (202) 225-2095
Email form on website: 
http://georgemiller.house.gov/
2181 Rayburn House Office Building
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Kareem Dale
Disabilities Consultant to the President
Email: Kareem_A._Dale@who.eop.gov