Dear Colleagues,
Joanne
Wilson, NFB, Reports on Rally to Save Rehabilitation Services
Administration
We did it! We did it very, very well! Thank you all! To all of you
who
could make it to the Rally in front of the Department of Education in
person, and to all of you at home who are doing what you can to save the
Rehabilitation Services Administration I thank you! Yesterday, the
National Federation of the Blind handed out 600 signs and there were at
least 2 people to every sign. The many signs from the cosponsors added
more color and information. Signs were everywhere!
moderate temperature. You were all great participantsmen
and women with
good lungs, good hearts, and GREAT enthusiasm for letting Secretary
Spellings know the flawed plan a small clique in her department is trying
to put into effect is a disaster in the making for Americans with
disabilities.
We had over 1,200 participants at the rally by our count. They came from
state. We filled the block-long front sidewalk with rally marchers 4
people and more across, and more again on the sidelines. Todays
Washington Post article by Stephen Barr quotes department officials
saying only 300 to 400, but dont you believe
it. When we publish the
photos, that bit of wishful thinking will be readily apparent. The faces
we saw peeking out the windows know better too.
It was really great having the many representatives there from so many
different groups in the disability community, and the unions! We picked
up 3 more cosponsors the day before, two of them at five minutes to five,
and we were joined by one more cosponsoring group at the rally site,
complete with their own banner. This brings the current total number of
cosponsors to 48. The full list is attached.
Of course, this is only the beginning of the fight to save RSA. Here are
some suggestions for what we need to do next. Each small action is vital
to the overall effort when one sets out to change a course set by a
bureaucracy.
BACK HOME:
Please urge your members at home to do any or all of these actions.
1. Email (or Fax: (202) 401-0596) a personal letter to
Margaret.Spellings@ed.gov; with a copy to Christina.Wilson@ed.gov; or
call her office at (202) 401-3000. Each person should email or fax a
copy of this letter to his or her elected representatives in Congress.
2. Contact the local press and get an article in the newspaper or
on
television or radio. Right awayGet
a follow-up article after the
rallytell the local press about local people
traveling to Washington, D.
C. as Americans using a time-honored democratic tool. Include photos you
took of your own members at the rally. Old news is not news, so get your
copy and photos to your local daily paper or weekly paper, union paper or
online Web site today, or no later than tomorrow.
3. Write a letter to the editor or an opinion piece and get it
published in your local press.
4. Go to local political forums and press conferences. Ask your
elected representatives to support your needs.
5. Write and sign a petition to be emailed or faxed to Secretary
Spellings. In
signed by all 500 members.
6. Hold your own press conference, and pass out Press Kits to
educate the reporters on the issue.
Thanks! Lets keep the pressure on!
Joanne Wilson
National Federation of the Blind
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Rally at Department of Education:
1. RALLY SPONSOR: National Federation of the
Blind (NFB)
RALLY COSPONSORS
2. AIM Independent Living CenterNew
York (AIM CIL-NY)
3. American Association of People with Disabilities
(AAPD)
4. American Association of the Deaf-Blind (AADB)
5. American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR)
6. American Council of the Blind
(ACB)
7. American Rehab ACTion
Network (ARAN)
8. ARC of DC
9. Art Education for the Blind (AEB)
10. Center for Disability Law & Policy, The (CDLP)
11. Central Council Tlingit
& Haida Indians of
12.
Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification, The (CRCC)
13. Consortia of Administrators for Native
American Rehabilitation
(CANAR)
14. Council of State Administrators of Vocational
Rehabilitation (CSAVR)
15. Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and
Behavioral Health Care
in the
16.
DC Center for Independent Living, The (DC CIL)
17.
SILC)
18.
19. Independent Living Support Foundation of DC (ILSF)
20. National
Rehabilitation (NAMSFVR)
21. National Association of Blind Rehabilitation Professionals
(NABRP)
22. National Association of the Deaf (NAD)
23. National Coalition on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB)
24. National Council 252 of Education Locals of
the American Federation
of Government Employees, AFL-CIO
25. National Council of State Agencies for the Blind (NCSAB)
26. National Council on Rehabilitation Education (NCRE)
27. National Rehabilitation Association (NRA)
28.
29.
30. Parents of Blind Children-New
31. Service Employees International
32.
33.
34.
ADDITIONS, May 20 to
35. AFSCME Council 92, AFL-CIO (American Federation of State and
36.
37. Association of Blind Citizens (ABC)
38. Brain Injury Association of
List of 34 groups.
39. Council for Independent Living of
40. Family Voices
41.
42.
43. Pennsylvania Rehabilitation Association (PRA?), a part of the
National Rehabilitation Association.
44. Self-Help for Hard-of-Hearing People (SSSH)
45. Service Employees International
46. State Employee AllianceCommunications
Workers of
7076, AFL-CIO (SEACWA, Local 7076).
47.
48. Vermont Statewide Independent Living Center (VTSILC)
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