Letter about IDEA from a Parent to Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS)

This document is no longer timely and may be only of historical value.

For information on current issues go to the Education Issues section.

May 30, 2003

Senator Pat Roberts
302 Hart Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Roberts:

Your consideration of three extremely important issues affecting the education of children with visual impairments for inclusion in the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), would be most appreciated. In our roles as the parent of a child with a severe visual impairment who has moved successfully through the public school systems and attended the school for the blind at important educational intervals, the President of the statewide professional organization of Teachers of the Visually Impaired, the Director of the statewide instructional resource center for Braille and large print textbooks, and as the Superintendent of the Kansas State School for the Blind, we represent perspectives on these issues that are informed by experience and study. Our consensus is that the reauthorization of IDEA offers a landmark opportunity to improve the educational outcomes of children and youth with visual impairments through these three additions:

• H.R. 1350 includes many aspects of the Instructional Materials Accessibility Act (IMAA) advocated for by educators of children with visual impairments. The provisions of this bill address several issues that will greatly improve the availability and timely provision of textbooks produced in Braille and other accessible formats. Missing from H.R. 1350 is a critical component that establishes a central repository for textbook publishers' electronic files that is necessary to ensure coordination with the states and local education agencies. The publishing industry and educators fully support the IMAA and the repository to increase ease of access to the curriculum for students with visual impairments.
  
  
• The concept of Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) should be clarified in IDEA in a manner that continues to facilitate children with disabilities being educated with their non-disabled peers in a general education setting while giving more specific guidance to the existing IDEA provision for a continuum of placement and service options. Current interpretations of the intent of LRE at the state and local level sometimes restrict access to the continuum even when the child's need for more comprehensive services is apparent, school progress is minimal, and the parents are advocating for an opportunity for their child to attend a setting where specialized services are more readily available. The two largest professional organizations of educators in the field of Visual Impairments (AER, CEC/DVI), representing teachers working in both general and special education settings, support ease of access to a continuum of options that allow the LRE for each child to be determined by the parents and school team based upon the child's individual learning needs.
  
  
• Sufficient numbers of appropriately trained Teachers of the Visually Impaired are essential to successful school outcomes for these students. There is currently a severe shortage, and expected retirements over the next few years will outpace new teachers coming into the field. Children and youth with visual impairments will not be able to fully meet the high expectations of No Child Left Behind without enough specialized teachers. Continued federal funding for university programs that prepare Teachers of the Visually Impaired is essential.
  
  

Senator Roberts, a backdrop to these issues is what happens to students with visual impairments during adulthood. It is commonly held that 70% will be unemployed and on government assistance. As a result of this, along with transportation problems and general difficulties with access to public information and services, many will live significantly isolated from opportunities to participate in and contribute to community life. These additions to IDEA will provide an important step in breaking this cycle through increased access to all of the formative experiences we rely upon our schools to provide. We hope to have an educational system where students with visual impairments have every opportunity to develop into productive, tax-paying citizens. Your assistance in the inclusion of these provisions in the Senate version of IDEA would be a great service to the students we serve. We will follow-up this letter by phone, and are always ready for any questions you or your staff may have to clarify these important issues.

Sincerely,

Sheila Frahm,
Parent of a Child With a Disability;
Executive Director, Kansas Association of Community College Trustees
(W) 785.3575156 (M) 785.633.3128

Craig Phillips, President
KS Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired
(W) 913.993.9358 (M) 913.645.8262

Jacqueline Denk, Director
Kansas Instructional Resource Center for the Visually Impaired
(W) 913.281.3308 x 417 (M) 913.488.4045

William Daugherty, Superintendent
Kansas State School for the Blind;
President-Elect, Council of Schools for the Blind
(W) 913.281.3308 x 306 (M) 913.645.5323