CEC Policy Insider

The Americans with Disabilities Act: CEC Celebrates 22nd Anniversary

On July 26, 2012, the United States will mark the 22^nd anniversary of key landmark legislation, the Americans with Disabilities Act, also known as ADA (Public Law, 101-336). Signed into law by President George H.W. Bush, this historic legislation resulted from intense advocacy from the disability rights community and the bipartisan effort of senators and representatives. CEC played a key role in its passage.

The intent of ADA was to provide individuals with disabilities protection from exclusion and discrimination that resulted from their disability. According to the www.ada.gov guide on disability laws, “ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, state and local government, public accommodations, commercial facilities, transportation, and telecommunications. It also applies to the United States Congress. To be protected by the ADA, one must have a disability or have a relationship or association with an individual with a disability. An individual with a disability is defined as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity, a person who has a history or record of such impairment or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment…”

After being signed into law, ADA implementation faced an uphill battle and was challenged in the federal courts. The resulting litigation lead to multiple lower courts and two Supreme Court rulings that narrowed and weakened the protections that Congress had intended to provide to individuals with disabilities. Again, advocacy within the disabilities rights community and the bipartisan support of senators and representatives worked toward solutions and ADA was amended to the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, also known as ADAAA (Public Law 110-325). Signed into law by President George W. Bush 18 years after ADA had been originally enacted, ADAAA provided a clearer framework for employees, employers and the courts to follow to ensure Americans with disabilities were receiving the protections intended by the original law.

Protection against discrimination is a basic human right. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities looks to the global community to ensure that all individuals with disabilities are afforded equal protections granted to non-disabled persons in their respective countries and for those individuals from the United States traveling abroad. With the United States looking to ratify this UN Treaty, some of the lessons learned in the United States since ADA was originally signed into law 22 years ago may assist other countries as they move toward more equal protection, access and non-discriminatory practices to ensure their most vulnerable populations experience equity and dignity in their daily lives.

Please tune in as the White House observes the 22nd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act and hosts a discussion on the state of disability policy tomorrow at 8 a.m. EST. You can view the live stream by clicking here.

To read U.S. Secretary of Education's remarks on the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, please click here.

Send a letter to your Senator and urge them to ratify the UN CRPD today.

Secretary Duncan Tells Congress: Sequestration is Bad for Kids!

This morning, US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, testified about the potential impact of sequestration before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees education appropriations. Watch his testimony here:  Secretary Duncan layed out the anticipated cuts to all education programs, including IDEA. He testified that Title 1 will lose over $1 Billion Dollars and IDEA Part B grants to states alone will lose over $900 million dollars.

Secretary Duncan explained that if Congress allows sequestration to occur the loss of federal education funding will gravely impact state and local budgets which are already stretched. He was also asked specifically about what impact this might have on education reforms like Race to the Top and other significant efforts that states are currently undertaking. He was clear that the loss of these important dollars would mean it would be very difficult for districts to just continue providing basic services, let alone tackle the challenges our nation’s schools face in their quest to again top the world.

Want to learn more about sequestration? Read this. For more information on how sequestration will affect non-defense jobs, please see this report from the Labor-H Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee.

You can also see how individual states will be effected by viewing this excellent report from the Committee for Education Funding.

Want to join CEC and tell Congress that your students and community cannot withstand these deep cuts? Send this letter TODAY!

U.S. Department of Education Launches New Student Aid Website; Information About TEACH Grants for Special Educators Available

Last week, the U.S. Department of Education launched a new website and social media package designed to provide more centralized, accessible information on financial aid for students pursuing higher education. This website is designed to provide better, clearer access to the intricacies of student financial aid and to make it easier for students to fund their higher education using the best means available. This process has included revamping the Department of Education’s social media sites such as Facebook, Youtube and Twitter to provide students with easier means to navigate the federal financial aid programs.

In particular, this will make it easier to access information on the TEACH grant program, which provides up to $4,000 to students who are pursuing the coursework to needed to obtain a teaching degree. However, to receive this grant, you must be pursuing your degree to teach in a high need field – such as special education -- and agree to teach for four years after you graduate in a low-income area. Information on qualifying for the TEACH grant program can be found on the new Student Aid website. To begin the process to receive a grant, you must first contact your school to determine whether or not they participate in the program.  

CEC has supported the TEACH grant program and its emphasis on special education as a high need field. For more information, see the new Student Aid website or click here.

National Governor’s Association Announces New Initiative - A Better Bottom Line: Employing People with Disabilities

With the unemployment rate of individuals with disabilities 50% higher than those without disabilities, new employment initiatives are sorely needed to reverse this long lasting trend. 

CEC applauds a new initiative led by Governor Jack Markell (D-DE),  chair of the National Governor’s Association, who recently announced  year long  project entitled A Better Bottom Line: Employing People with Disabilities. This plan will focus on meeting employment challenges that effect those with significant intellectual or developmental disabilities by creating blueprints for best practices that can be put in place for employment of persons with disabilities and by working with states to heighten awareness of these best practices.

The initiative incorporates plans to provide work place supports for people with disabilities such as job coaches and personal attendants so that people with disabilities will have systems in place that allow them to use their skills and qualifications to contribute to their employer’s success. The plan also includes measures to inform and educate the business community about how employing  individuals with disabilities can improve a company or business’s practices and bottom line.   

The initiative received wide spread support from leaders of some of the largest companies in the nation and federal leaders including Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA).

Stay tuned to the Policy Insider blog for more updates. For more information on this plan, please click here. 

Mark Up of UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rescheduled for July 26, 2012

After scheduling a mark up for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for July 19, 2012, the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations postponed and then rescheduled the mark up for July 26, at 9:30am. This date is also the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Thanks to CEC member advocacy including many letters sent to members of the Senate, the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations persisted in scheduling the mark up despite opposition.

CEC will attend the mark up and continue to keep members apprised of progress made in ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Send your letter to your Senators today and urge them to ratify the UN CRPD.