NFB Call to Action: “Department of Education Planning to Dismantle RSA”
Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, recently sent out the following call to action:
An Urgent Letter: Department of Education Planning to Dismantle RSA
April 25, 2005
Dear Colleagues in the Blindness Field:
This letter is a call to action. The time has come to join together in opposition to a dangerous trend to gut programs, a gutting which is about to be imposed on people with disabilities throughout this country—RSA staff gone, money gone, oversight gone, programs downgraded, curtailed, or closed. (See enclosed fact sheet for details.)
Under the Rehabilitation Act, today’s public rehabilitation programs are administered through a state-federal partnership by the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) in the Department of Education (ED). The major programs administered by RSA evolved from a groundswell of consumer advocacy and participation among the nation’s 54 million persons with disabilities. Embedded in these programs are the cornerstones of consumer choice—empowerment, comprehensive training, qualified rehabilitation professionals, and quality services—all of which have led to the distinction of the RSA administering the most important employment program for persons with disabilities in history. Because of initiatives currently being proposed by some officers of ED, ALL of these services and programs are in danger of being downsized or eliminated.
I believe Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings is unaware of the amount of damage that will result, inevitably, if the proposed changes are enacted. Her professional expertise is in public education and her focus has been directed to the “No Child Left Behind” initiative. We need to bring to her attention the human costs that, under her leadership, will result to people with disabilities if she does not rein in her staff.
Please advise all of your members to call and email the Secretary. In addition, we invite you and the members of your organization, your family and friends, your legislators, and all concerned persons to join us at an informational demonstration and rally to be held in front of the Department of Education headquarters on Thursday morning, May 26. We’ll have signs, chants, cheers, marching, and songs for three hours of education for the educators.
- May 26, beginning at 9:00 AM—
Rally preliminaries (behind ED) at the Holiday Inn Capitol, 550 C Street, Southwest.
- May 26, 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM—
RALLY held in front of ED, 400 Maryland Avenue, Southwest, Washington, DC.
We ask you to do your very best to send as many representatives from your organization as you possibly can to this peaceful but determined demonstration. Bring a full van from every state, bring a bus! This could be the most important thing you do in the effort to put a stop to a proposal that would seriously diminish the rehabilitation services desperately needed by thousands of people with disabilities now and in the future.
To really get Secretary Spelling’s attention, we ask more…
- Give us permission to add your organization’s name as a sponsor for this rally.
- Attend the rally with your members from every state.
- Bring a huge banner identifying your organization and its consumer group.
- Email or fax your organization’s letter to educate Secretary Spellings before May 26.
- Urge all of your members to write a letter and email or fax it by May 26 to Secretary Spellings, with a copy sent to each of their own representatives in Congress.
- Suggest members visit their elected U.S. Representatives and Senators while in D.C.
- Tell us how many people your group can muster for the rally.
Contact information for Secretary Margaret Spellings:
- Email Margaret.Spellings@ed.gov,
- and send a copy to her secretary at Christina.Wilson@ed.gov;
- Or fax Secretary Spellings: (202) 401-0596; and
- Call Secretary Spellings: (202) 401-3000.
To contact us about this issue, please direct your questions, calls, and emails to our Rally Coordinator at (410) 659-9314, or email: nfb@nfb.org, Subject line: ED Rally May 26.
Services and programs to assist persons with disabilities are not and should never be partisan issues; therefore, we urge you and your members to join us in Washington in front of the Department of Education on May 26. Come stand with us in the front lines of our current struggle for self-sufficiency and independence.
Cordially,
Marc Maurer
President
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
1800 Johnson Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21230
Phone: (410) 659-9314
Fax: (410) 685-5653
Email: nfb@nfb.org
Web site: www.nfb.org
P.S.: For reservations at the Holiday Inn Capitol under our group rate, contact Diane McGeorge at (303) 778-1130, extension 219. Be prepared to spell all names of persons to occupy each room, and give your email address and telephone number for confirmation. Available Wednesday and Thursday nights (only), our group rate per night per room for up to 4 persons in a room is $182, including tax.
—jd
(via Bill Finn, Administrator, NH Services for Blind and Visually Impaired)