[Missouri-l] Fwd: Alert! Sign-on: Federal Child Count Letter by Monday, April 27

[Chip Hailey]

>Delivered-To: chiphailey at cableone.net
>Subject: Alert! Sign-on: Federal Child Count Letter by Monday, April 27
>Date: Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:06:30 -0600
>From: "Barbara Jackson LeMoine" <blemoine at afb.net>
>To: "Barbara Jackson LeMoine" <blemoine at afb.net>
>
>Alert! Sign-on: Federal Child Count Letter by Monday, April 27
>
>
>
>Consider signing-on either as an individual or on behalf of your organization
>
>
>
>During the recent Jo Taylor Conference held in 
>Washington, DC, a small group of VI 
>professionals discussed the issue of the 
>inaccuracy of OSEP's child count with the staff 
>of a number of Colorado Senators and 
>Representatives. The Colorado delegation 
>encouraged the VI professionals to draft a 
>letter to Secretary Duncan, explaining the 
>issue. They were also assured support from 
>various members of Congress if experts in the VI 
>field, particularly those at universities, would 
>be willing to sign a letter to Secretary Duncan.
>
>Please take a few moments to read text of the 
>letter that is included below in this e-mail 
>message and consider signing-on either as an 
>individual or on behalf of the agency you 
>represent. The letter, addressed to Secretary 
>Duncan, will be written on University of 
>Northern Colorado (UNC) letterhead per the 
>request of the Legislative Aide to Colorado’s 
>Jared Polis, a member of the House Committee on Education and Labor.
>
>
>
>If you wish to sign on to this effort, please 
>e-mail <mailto:skelly at afb.net>skelly at afb.net 
>indicating your support by first thing Monday, April 27.
>
>
>
>Text of Letter to Secretary Duncan
>
>
>
>April 13, 2009
>
>
>
>The Honorable Arne Duncan
>
>Secretary of Education
>
>U.S. Department of Education
>
>400 Maryland Avenue, SW
>
>Washington, D.C. 20202:
>
>
>
>Dear Mr. Secretary:
>
>
>
>We are writing to request your attention to a 
>matter affecting students who are visually impaired or blind.
>
>
>
>The Federal Child Count, a statutory provision 
>of the Individuals with Disabilities Education 
>Act conducted by the Office of Special Education 
>Programs (OSEP), renders a considerable number 
>of students with educationally significant 
>visual impairments systemically invisible. 
>Because the count is based upon a primary 
>disability category model, students who have 
>disabilities in addition to a visual impairment 
>are often not represented as having a visual 
>impairment in OSEP’s annual report to Congress.
>
>
>
>Using other sources of information, such as the 
>American Printing House for the Blind (APH), the 
>magnitude of the issue is obvious. APH conducts 
>an annual count of students who are legally 
>blind. As such, the APH count is a more 
>restrictive count then the OSEP count. Yet, the 
>APH count consistently reports numbers that are 
>more than twice that of the OSEP count. For 
>example, in 2004, APH reported 56,700 students 
>who were legally blind and receiving services, 
>while the OSEP count reported there were only 
>25,500 students who were visually impaired and receiving services.
>
>
>
>As informative as the APH count is, it is a very 
>restrictive count as it includes only students 
>who meet the legal definition of blindness. In a 
>study based upon epidemiological estimates, the 
>National Plan for Training Personnel to Serve 
>Children with Blindness and Low Vision (NPTP), 
>an OSEP‐sponsored project, offered a more 
>accurate picture of the numbers of students with 
>educationally significant visual impairments by 
>including those who had additional disability 
>labels. This study, conducted in 1998, estimated 
>there were approximately 93,500 students who 
>were visually impaired, a figure almost four 
>times greater than that of the OSEP count.
>
>NPTP recommended that OSEP implement a separate 
>count of students with visual impairments, but that has not occurred.
>
>
>
>The impact of OSEP’s grossly inaccurate count 
>has many negative and serious repercussions. 
>Some of these repercussions include:
>
>
>    * This disparity in numbers causes a bias in 
> all research data on student needs and outcomes in this population;
>    * The need for teachers certified in visual 
> impairments, orientation and mobility 
> specialists, and teachers for children who are 
> deafblind is underestimated, impacting both 
> teacher preparation programs and educational services;
>    * Federal funding provided for vision 
> services is insufficient to meet the need;
>    * Children are not being appropriately 
> served based upon educational needs.
>
>  We request a set aside of 5 million dollars to 
> develop and implement a yearly “National 
> Census of Students with Visual Impairments” 
> based upon the NPTP model. We believe that 
> subsequent costs can be folded into current 
> operating budgets, but the set aside is necessary to establish the system.
>
>
>
>Once accurate numbers are generated for this 
>population of students, many of the impacts 
>stated above can start to be addressed. It is 
>our belief that once appropriate research can be 
>conducted, appropriate numbers of professionals 
>working with these students can be prepared and 
>federal funding is aligned to meet the need, 
>post‐school outcomes for students who are 
>blind or visually impaired will mirror those of the nondisabled population.
>
>
>
>Thank you for your time and consideration in 
>this matter. As you can see from the list of 
>supporting institutions and organizations, this 
>matter is of great importance to those who 
>educate students who are visually impaired. 
>Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need 
>additional information or wish to discuss the matter further.
>
>
>
>Sincerely yours,
>
>
>
>=======================================
>Barbara Jackson LeMoine
>Policy Analyst
>American Foundation for the Blind
>Public Policy Center
>1660 L Street, N.W., Suite 513
>Washington, DC 20036
>202-822-0831
>E-mail: <mailto:blemoine at afb.net>blemoine at afb.net
>Web: <http://www.afb.org/gov.asp>http://www.afb.org/gov.asp
>Expanding possibilities for people with vision lossTM
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