[Nfbf-l] Fw: [fidelcofriends] Fw: Final CALL-TO-ACTION Package: SEND NOW!

Tue Apr 21 19:37:28 UTC 2009

Hi All, please pass this as far and wide as you can. And please take the
time to submit a letter yourself. And please if anyone wants to blogg, or
rite a peice on this, do. We need all the support we can get.

>
>> Please spread the word.  All parties interested in supporting equal
>> access
>> to education for blind students and jobs for adults with disabilities
>> ought
>> to receive this call to action letter and should immediately respond by
>> using the "sample demand letter" as a template to contact all of the
>> critical administrators and legislators who can reinstate the grants.
>>
>> Thanks for your help.
>>
>> Rick Boggs
>> www.rickboggs.com
>>
>> Word Doc's Attached
>>
>> Attention Advocate:
>>
>> 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 at 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 at 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 at who.eop.gov
>>
>

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