[nabs-l] Fwd: ALERT!--Cogswell-Macy Bill Introduced!

[Ashley R. Burke]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: AFB DirectConnect <mrichert at afb.net>
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2015 15:23:32 -0400
Subject: ALERT!--Cogswell-Macy Bill Introduced!
To: AFB Subscriber <afbweb at afb.net>

				
 AFB DirectConnect Letterhead
	    	
	

ALERT!--Cogswell-Macy Bill Introduced!
Comprehensive Special Education Legislation for
Blind/Visually Impaired, Deaf/Hard of Hearing, and Deafblind Students

H.R. 3535: The Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act

"Our students will thrive - with Thirty-five Thirty-five!"

Follow this link to read this edition of DirectConnect online:
http://www.afb.org/info/programs-and-services/public-policy-center/direc
tconnect- newsletter/cogswell-macy-bill-introduced/1235
<http://www.afb.org/info/programs-and-services/public-policy-center/dire
ctconnect-newsletter/cogswell-  macy-bill-introduced/1235>

For further information, contact:

Mark Richert, Esq.
Director, Public Policy, AFB
(202) 469-6833
MRichert at afb.net <mailto:mrichert at afb.net>



Dear colleagues, friends and fellow advocates for students with
disabilities:

Yesterday, following impressive, dedicated advocacy across the sensory
impairments communities, the most comprehensive legislation to enhance
and reform America's special education system for students with
vision/hearing disabilities and deafblindness has been introduced. H.R.
3535, the Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act, once enacted, will
ensure that: every child who is deaf, every child who is blind, and
every child who is deafblind, regardless of whether they have additional
disabilities, will be properly counted and served; each of a child's
unique learning needs will be properly evaluated; states will engage in
strategic planning to be sure that they can in fact meet each child's
specialized needs; the U.S. Department of Education will do its part to
hold states and schools accountable; students with sensory disabilities
will be served by qualified personnel; and students who are blind will
receive state-of-the-art services and skills supported through a new
major national collaborative initiative addressing their unique learning
needs.

Introduced by Reps. Matt Cartwright (D-PA) and David McKinley (R-WV),
H.R. 3535 is named for Anne Sullivan, Helen Keller's beloved teacher;
and Alice Cogswell, the first deaf girl to be educated in a school for
the deaf in the United States. Originally introduced in the previous
Congress as H.R. 4040, this updated version of the Cogswell-Macy Act
includes additional language to support students who are deafblind.
Advocates for students who are blind/visually impaired,
deaf/hard-of-hearing, and deafblind have worked tirelessly with
legislators to compose three strong, parallel titles within the Act,
addressing the needs of students in these three sensory- disability
areas.

Read below for the press release from Rep. Cartwright's office, and read
the complete text of the Cogswell-Macy Act on the AFB Policy Center
website at the following link:
http://www.afb.org/info/get-involved/take-action/complete-text-of-macy-a
ct/125
<http://www.afb.org/info/get-involved/take-action/complete-text-of-macy-
act/125>

Advocates are urged to contact your member of the U.S. House of
Representatives to ask him/her to cosponsor H.R. 3535 today!

Learn how to contact your Representative at the following link:
AFB.org/CogswellMacyAct <http://www.afb.org/cogswellmacyact>

Tell your Representative that by cosponsoring, he/she will be helping to
make history by ensuring that America's special education system is
worthy of the enormous potential of every child who is blind, visually
impaired, deaf, hard of hearing, or deafblind. This year, 2015, is the
40th anniversary of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
Tell your Representative that by joining in this campaign, they will
help us transform a forty-year-old system from one that has broken down
barriers into a system that finally ensures that kids with sensory
disabilities will receiving the education and supports they need to
thrive in our nation's classrooms!

Advocates should stay tuned to this newsletter and to
www.AFB.org/MacyAct <http://www.afb.org/macyact>  for more information
and regular updates as the Cogswell-Macy Act progresses. Thank you for
your advocacy for children and youth with sensory disabilities!

Press Release [9/17/2015]:

Feel free to link to or share this Press Release, which is posted online
at the following link:
http://www.afb.org/community/announcements/reps-cartwright-mckinley-cham
pion-comprehensive-
bipartisan-legislation-to-transform-special-education-for-students-with-
sensory-disabilities/12
<http://www.afb.org/community/announcements/reps-cartwright-mckinley-cha
mpion-comprehensive-bipartisan-
legislation-to-transform-special-education-for-students-with-sensory-
disabilities/12>

Rep. Cartwright's office has posted this release at the following link:
http://cartwright.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/reps-cartwright-
mckinley- champion-comprehensive-bipartisan-legislation
<http://cartwright.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/reps-cartwright
-mckinley-champion-comprehensive-  bipartisan-legislation>


Reps. Cartwright, McKinley Champion Comprehensive Bipartisan Legislation
to Transform Special Education for Students with Sensory Disabilities


Washington, DC – Today U.S. Congressmen Matt Cartwright (D-PA, 17) and
David McKinley (R-WV, 1) introduced the bipartisan Alice Cogswell and
Anne Sullivan Macy Act (H.R. 3535), named for two pioneers in the
education of deaf and blind students. This landmark legislation would
dramatically improve educational results for students who are deaf, hard
of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or deafblind.

In 1975, Congress enacted America's federal special education law known
today as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and the
Cogswell-Macy Act would amend and modernize IDEA to address the largely
unmet unique needs of students with sensory disabilities. The bill
would: ensure that students with vision and/or hearing disabilities are
properly identified, evaluated and served, especially when they may have
additional disabilities; guarantee that students with sensory
disabilities are provided with the full array of special education and
related services they must have to truly receive a free and appropriate
public education; promote and support teachers and associated
professionals who are critical to the delivery of such services; and
hold all levels of our public education system accountable for these
expectations.

“Upwards of 350,000 students are deaf or hard of hearing, and an
estimated 100,000 have blindness or vision loss. Yet less than one-third
of those students are reported as having those needs under IDEA. That is
completely unacceptable,” Rep. Cartwright said. “This legislation would
ensure that students who are deaf, hard of hearing blind, visually
impaired, or deaf-blind receive an equal and appropriate education and
have access to vital services. I look forward to working with my
colleagues to guarantee that all children can succeed and achieve their
potential.”

“Americans have made great strides since 1975 toward improving the lives
of children dealing with hearing and sight disabilities but there is
still more work to be done. We need to ensure the nearly-half a million
kids with these disabilities have the same opportunity as other children
to learn and develop skills. This is a common sense step to ensure we
are helping these children,” Rep. McKinley said.

The American Foundation for the Blind and Conference of Educational
Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf have endorsed the
Cogswell-Macy Act, along with more than 100 other leading national,
regional and community-based organizations.

“The introduction of this bill represents a momentous step toward the
transformation of this country’s special education system in a manner
that will truly allow for students who are blind or visually impaired to
succeed in a twenty-first century classroom.” said Kim Charlson,
president of the American Council of the Blind (ACB). "The Cogswell-Macy
Act is the most significant national proposal to improve education for
students who are deafblind we've seen in decades," said Mussie Gebre,
President of the national consumer advocacy group, DeafBlind Citizens in
Action (DBCA). "When America's deafblind children and youth have their
unique communications and learning needs fully met, are provided with
essential supports such as intervener services, and are empowered by our
national education system to rise to their full potential, well then
just you look out because they're on their way to achieve great things.
Just watch us and see for yourself!"

"Our national special education law has been a success at getting kids
with disabilities into their neighborhood schools, but what we haven't
done yet is to make sure that students with vision loss get the
education they deserve once they get in the schoolhouse door," said Mark
Richert, Director of Public Policy for the American Foundation for the
Blind. "We've waited forty years, and we're not waiting another forty to
give kids who are blind or visually impaired an education that is worthy
of their tremendous potential. That's why the Cogswell- Macy Act is
imperative."

"We expect that the passage of the Cogswell-Macy Act will rectify years
of misapplication of IDEA for deaf and hard of hearing children
everywhere. Deaf and hard of hearing children continue to experience
language and academic delays because their educational environments are
not optimal or even conducive to their learning," said James E. Tucker,
Superintendent of the Maryland School for the Deaf and President of the
Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the
Deaf. "Every student's Individualized Education Program needs to be
student-driven and focused on the child's language, cognitive, and
social development."

NAD President Chris Wagner stated “Every deaf or hard of hearing child
deserves access to a quality education, and this Act will be an
important step towards reminding states of their accountability
regarding deaf, hard of hearing, blind, deafblind, and visually impaired
children’s needs.”

Rep. Matt Cartwright represents Pennsylvania’s 17th Congressional
District, which includes Schuylkill County and portions of Carbon,
Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, and Northampton Counties. Cartwright serves
on the House Committee on Natural Resources and the House Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform.

You can unsubscribe at any time. To remove your name from this mailing
list, or to find out what other newsletters are available from AFB,
visit http://www.afb.org/myafbnewsletter.aspx.