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#CogswellMacyAct will uphold the civil rights of American students w sensory disabilities by protecting their access to free appropriate public ed 1/
@DB_Coalition @ceasd1868 @NAD1880 @AFB1921 @ClercCenter @GallaudetU @RITNTID @NAOBIDC @JannaHasko @KymPMeyer @HeidiGASL @DCADeaf
@DB_Coalition @ceasd1868 @NAD1880 @AFB1921 @ClercCenter @GallaudetU @RITNTID @NAOBIDC @JannaHasko @KymPMeyer @HeidiGASL @DCADeaf
2/ Deaf, hard of hearing, visually impaired, blind, & deafblind students are not properly supported in schools & are therefore further marginalized & disenfranchised. This is unacceptable. #CogswellMacyAct is a bill that aims to address this. #DHH #DeafEd
3/ These students are talented, diverse & capable of greatness! They have the right to proper supports at school such as qualified teachers, #k12interpreters & #interveners. This bill will amend the Individuals w Disabilities Education Act to ensure the law requires them. #SpEd
4/ Here's the thing: IDEA, the law that guarantees students w disabilities the right to ed isn't working for #deaf #dhh #blind #VI and #deafblind students. States aren't doing enough to support these kiddos. We need to strengthen the law which is why #CogswellMacyAct was drafted.
5/ This isn't "just" an education issue or disability issue. This is a civil rights issue.
6/ What we now know as IDEA was first passed in 1975 as PL 94-142. We still have a long way to go to fulfill the promise of equitable access & quality education for students w disabilities. This has life-long ramifications for them and their families. We must do better for them.
7/ Remember the brilliant author #HelenKeller? This bill was named for her teacher Annie Sullivan Macy made famous in the movie #TheMiracleWorker. Ensuring deafblind students have access to a quality education & #interveners doesn't take a miracle. It takes the #CogswellMacyAct
8/ Alice Cogswell is known as the 1st deaf student formally educated in the US by #Gallaudet & #Clerc. There's a statue of her @GallaudetU. Interesting #DeafHistory article that says Lydia Huntley was Alice's 1st teacher & that she could read & write when she started w Gallaudet.
9/ It's worth noting that the name Alice Cogswell & Anne Sullivan Macy Act overtly pays homage to the history of #DeafEd in this country.
10/ To be sure, it's been a fraught history. Time and again Deaf people have denied their civil, linguistic & human rights: the right to natural #signlanguage, the right to access, the right to decision-making autonomy. #CogswellMacyAct is supported by Deaf-led orgs & deafschools
11/ This is not proposed legislation dictated TO deaf people. It was created BY deaf people, by folks w visual impairments, by people with disabilities who not only have the knowledge but the lived experience. They knew how IDEA was broken & knew one way to start fixing it: CMA.
12/ #CogswellMacyAct was first proposed in 2014. It passed the House & failed in the Senate. It's been proposed in every Congressional session (I think?) since then & failed. Why? Because we don't value children w disabilities? Bc we have too many other problems in this country?
13/ I think one reason is that many fail to see educational access for disabled students within the broader fight for social justice & civil rights. Many people have long been in this fight. But laws like #ADA & #IDEA are the floor not the ceiling. @judithheumann @GreggBeratan
14/ Students with disabilities are Black, Latinx, Asian, Indigenous, white, mixed, LGBTQ, from immigrant families, from urban & rural areas, & from every faith community & religion. They are marginalized in multiple ways. They are not on an even playing field. #SocialJustice
15/ IDEA is broken & has many flaws. But #CogswellMacyAct is a start. It will add #interveners to the law for deafblind students & it proposes licensing sign language #interpreters in k12 schools to bring them in line w other related service pros. Not a silver-bullet but a start
16/ Did you know that in the US, 5 state Depts of Ed have NO PUBLISHED STANDARDS for sign language interpreters serving deaf & hard of hearing children in schools?
Requirements in the other 45 states vary widely, and even then are often not adhered to.
Requirements in the other 45 states vary widely, and even then are often not adhered to.
17/ Highly-qualified (not minimally qualified) #k12interpreters can't be an afterthought. IDEA must be amended to clarify that state DoE & school district standards & hiring practices must reflect the fact that sign language interpreters are professional related service personnel
18/ I support the civil & educational rights of all students of all ages, esp those w disabilities. I also support the rich ASL & cultural heritage of Deaf schools. For Ss who sign & attend local schools, I support highly-qualified interpreters. Nothing less. #CogswellMacyAct
19/ I hope that Deaf Communities in the US will see the fight to pass the #CogswellMacyAct as part of THEIR struggle: for access, for ASL & for equity. We also need ALL sign language interpreters to join us & demand higher standards for all terps, regardless of where we work.
end/ As we stand for Black lives & against systemic racism, don't forget that many kids are (STILL) just trying to get a decent ed. #Justice4All 
@TLCDeaf @HabenGirma @naie_org @jaceyhill @coreyaxelrod @NyleDiMarco @AzCDHH @ArizonaEA @UAZEducation @TMFeldman @SKH245 @NunaR_PhD
@TLCDeaf @HabenGirma @naie_org @jaceyhill @coreyaxelrod @NyleDiMarco @AzCDHH @ArizonaEA @UAZEducation @TMFeldman @SKH245 @NunaR_PhD
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