[Nfbf-l] Republican blitz for teach act info.

[Denise Valkema]

The Technology, Education and Accessibility in College and Higher Education (TEACH) Act. This bill would direct the Access Board, a small federal entity, to consult steakholders and agree upon a set of access standards for electronic textbooks, e-readers, course management software, and other technology used in higher education. The digitization of education and content can be an extremely positive development for blind students, but only of the makers of technology build accessibility into their products. The ADA, as well as section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, require schools to make education accessible to all students, and this bill will allow the Department of Justice to promulgate guidelines instructing educational institutions on how to meet their legal obligations to procure technologies that are usable by all of their students. 

I made your work easier by contacting each office and asking for the education staffer's name. Below are the names, numbers, and email addresses. Please email letter personalized, and/or tweet, and/or call  all or as many as you can to have representatives cosponsor the TEACH Act, H.R. 3505 and S. 2060. The samples from Lauren are below the list of representatives.

Jeff Miller
tel:202-225-4136
spencer.orenstein at mail.house.gov
Steve Southerland
tel:202-225-5235
Kristen.callaway at mail.house.gov
Ted Yoho
tel:202-225-5744
larry.calhoun at mail.house.gov
Ron DeSantis
tel:202-225-2706
zach.howell at mail.house.gov
John Mica
tel:202-225-4035
casey.brinck at mail.house.gov
Bill Posey
tel:202-225-3671
christen.kapavik at mail.house.gov
Richard Nugent 
tel:202-225-1002
danielle.doheny at mail.house.gov
Gus Bilirakis 
tel:202-225-5755
thomas.power at mail.house.gov
David Jolly
tel:202-225-5961
nick.catroppo at mail.house.gov
Dennis Ross
tel:202-225-1252
melissa.gierach at mail.house.gov
Vern Buchanan 
tel:202-225-5015
jillian.gates at mail.house.gov
Tom Rooney
tel:202-225-5792
andrew.callahan at mail.house.gov
Ted Deutch 
tel:(202)225-3001
jason.attermann at mail.house.gov
Mario Diaz-Balart
chris.sweet at mail.house.gov
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen 
tel:(202)225-3931
nathan.gately at mail.house.gov
 
Hi Friends,
 
Next week, we need everyone to mobilize for the TEACH Act! From Monday through Friday, we will run a Republican Blitz, where everybody contacts the Republican members of Congress from their state delegation and urges them to cosponsor HR 3505.
Some sample tweets: “Blind students need access to materials, help spur the market! Cosponsor the #TEACHAct” or “Blind students are being left behind and schools are being sued. The #TEACHAct is an easy fix. Will you cosponsor?” or “When blind students get to college, we need books. Publishers support the #TEACHAct, do you?” or “Congressman X and Congressman X have cosponsored the #TEACHAct. Join your delegation!” or even “Support Mr. Petri before he retires by cosponsoring #TEACHAct, a bill that improves access for the blind in higher ed!” 
  
Sample letter:
 
Hello [Education Staffer’s first name],
 
I am writing on behalf of the National Federation of the Blind of [your affiliate]. We last met with your office in January to discuss our legislative agenda, and one of those bills was the Technology, Education and Accessibility in College and Higher Education (TEACH) Act, H.R. 3505/S.2060. It has been a few months so I wanted to circle back and ask that Congressman/Congresswoman [Name] will come on as a cosponsor. The bill is non-controversial and bipartisan – can we count on [his/her] support?
 
A quick reminder: Inaccessible educational technology is creating profound barriers to education for students with disabilities. The TEACH Act authorizes the creation of voluntary accessibility guidelines for instructional material so that those materials are usable by students with print disabilities, and then incentivizes schools to use technology that conforms to the guidelines with a safe harbor from litigation. The goal of the guidelines is to facilitate the equal access mandates that require schools to use accessible materials by stimulating the creation of a viable digital marketplace. By facilitating the national mandate and the national market, we can provide equal access for blind students without infringing on states’ rights. This bill is appealing to those on both sides of the aisle, is endorsed by a major industry group, and is supported by data from a Congressionally-authorized study. The TEACH Act does not create any new liability for schools or create any mandates on technology companies, and reduces costs and litigation while still making systemic change for blind students. [H.R. 3505/S. 2060] is sponsored by [Tom Petri in the House/our Republican leader is Orrin Hatch] – will your boss join them as a cosponsor? 
 
Over 160,000 people, many from our state, have signed this petition onChange.org,http://www.change.org/petitions/pass-teach-act-equal-access-to-educational-materials-for-students-with-disabilities , showing widespread support for this modest approach to a disgraceful problem. Blind students can’t afford to wait, so please let me know if there are questions. For more information, please visithttps://nfb.org/TEACH . Thanks, hope to hear from you!
 
Sincerely,
[Your name}







Sincerely, Denise Valkema by iPhone