This story in Education Week provides an important link to the public comment sites at the US Dept. of Education. If you think “it can’t happen here,” you’re not paying attention to the loud drumbeat to loosen regulations and roll back guidance statements at the department. http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2017/07/27/betsy-devos-needs-to-hear-your-views.html?cmp=eml-enl-eu-news2-RM Children who are visually impaired and blind are “costly” to a school district. If you think that providing quality braille instruction such as that mentioned in the “Dear Colleague” letter from 2013 (see https://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/memosdcltrs/brailledcl-6-19-13.pdf <https://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/memosdcltrs/brailledcl-6-19-13.pdf>) is so important that it would “never” be rolled back, I’m afraid I don’t share your optimism about the current climate in D.C. We need to say loudly over and over that it’s MORE costly NOT to provide instruction to students in low incidence disability categories, and that providing braille, technology, and high quality educational services— including direct instruction from a certified TVI —is essential to positive outcomes for our students who are visually impaired and blind. In case the link to the Education Week article doesn’t work, I’m also pasting the link here: "You can submit comments on both regulations and guidance online <https://www.regulations.gov/> (at docket number ED-2017-OS-0074-0001) by the strict deadline of Aug. 21." I was in D.C. last week, and am alarmed by the things I’m hearing. I’m not posting this from any political perspective; I just know that too many people don’t understand what we do in our field, nor do they understand the importance of the direct instruction from a highly qualified TVI and COMS. Please post a message and encourage the parents of your students to write in, and your students themselves! Remember, the due date is Aug. 21. Thanks, everyone! —FM D'Andrea

Thanks FM Kathryn D Botsford, Ph.D. Research Assistant Professor Visually Impaired Learner Program Portland State University Portland, Oregon Email: botsfor2@pdx.edu & Executive Director Vision Education Research, LLC Email: kdbotsford.ver@gmail.com Cell: 206-849-3021 Sent via my iPhone > On Jul 27, 2017, at 9:07 AM, D'Andrea Frances Mary <literacy2@mindspring.com> wrote: > > This story in Education Week provides an important link to the public comment sites at the US Dept. of Education. If you think “it can’t happen here,” you’re not paying attention to the loud drumbeat to loosen regulations and roll back guidance statements at the department. > http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2017/07/27/betsy-devos-needs-to-hear-your-views.html?cmp=eml-enl-eu-news2-RM > > Children who are visually impaired and blind are “costly” to a school district. If you think that providing quality braille instruction such as that mentioned in the “Dear Colleague” letter from 2013 (see https://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/memosdcltrs/brailledcl-6-19-13.pdf) is so important that it would “never” be rolled back, I’m afraid I don’t share your optimism about the current climate in D.C. We need to say loudly over and over that it’s MORE costly NOT to provide instruction to students in low incidence disability categories, and that providing braille, technology, and high quality educational services— including direct instruction from a certified TVI —is essential to positive outcomes for our students who are visually impaired and blind. > > In case the link to the Education Week article doesn’t work, I’m also pasting the link here: > "You can submit comments on both regulations and guidance online (at docket number ED-2017-OS-0074-0001) by the strict deadline of Aug. 21." > > I was in D.C. last week, and am alarmed by the things I’m hearing. I’m not posting this from any political perspective; I just know that too many people don’t understand what we do in our field, nor do they understand the importance of the direct instruction from a highly qualified TVI and COMS. Please post a message and encourage the parents of your students to write in, and your students themselves! > > Remember, the due date is Aug. 21. Thanks, everyone! > —FM D'Andrea > _______________________________________ > PersonnelPrep mailing list > PersonnelPrep@lists.aerbvi.org > http://lists.aerbvi.org/mailman/listinfo/personnelprep_lists.aerbvi.org