Press Release: NFB Sues Federal Education Officials

Greetings. As a result of the decision to downsize services through the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), which was made by certain people in the Department of Education, the National Federation of the Blind is taking another proactive stance and filing a lawsuit against the Department, with respect to blind vendors and their place to receive vending facilities from the RSA. Read more below. I received this on an email list through the NFB Net group of lists. The release was dated 9/19/05.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: James Gashel
Executive Director for Strategic Initiatives
National Federation of the Blind
jgashel@nfb.org
(410) 659-9314, ext. 2227

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND SUES FEDERAL EDUCATION
OFFICIALS FOR
FAILURE TO IMPLEMENT LAW FOR BLIND VENDORS

Restructuring Plan Will Decimate Employment Program for the
Blind

Baltimore, MD (Sept. 19): -- The National Federation of the
Blind (NFB)
filed suit on Friday in the Federal District Court for the
District of
Columbia against Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and
one of
her subordinates in anticipation of changes at the Education
Department
that will harm an important program designed to increase
employment
opportunities for blind Americans. The lawsuit contends that a
planned
reorganization of the Rehabilitation Services Administration
(RSA),
which is housed within the Education Department, will violate a
Congressional mandate requiring that a minimum of thirteen
full-time
equivalent personnel within the agency be assigned to administer
the
Randolph-Sheppard Act. That law, passed in 1936 and amended in
1974 to
strengthen it and provide for its administration by the RSA,
requires
that blind persons be given priority to bid for opportunities to
operate
vending facilities such as cafeterias and concession counters on
Federal
property.

The National Association of Blind Merchants (NABM), an
organization of
Randolph-Sheppard vendors affiliated with the NFB, and three
individual
blind vendors were also listed as plaintiffs in the court
filing. The
acting head of the RSA, Edward Anthony, is named as a defendant
in
addition to Secretary Spellings.

Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind,
said,
"It is unconscionable that the Education Department is planning
to all
but abandon its Congressionally-mandated responsibility to
oversee the
Randolph-Sheppard program, one of the most important and
successful
employment initiatives for blind people in the history of the
nation.
The unemployment rate among the blind is in excess of seventy
per cent,
and the manner in which the callous bureaucrats in the Education
Department are handling this matter is a sign of utter disdain
and
disregard for the hopes and aspirations of blind individuals who
want to
achieve the American dream."

Officials of the NFB and other organizations concerned about the
rehabilitation of the blind have argued for months that the plan
to
close ten RSA regional offices, assign their functions to staff
at RSA
headquarters, and eliminate the agency's Blind and Visually
Impaired
Division, will lead to a general reduction in the quality of
rehabilitation services. The lawsuit contends that the same is
specifically true with regard to the Randolph-Sheppard program,
the
monitoring of which will be assigned to a small team of workers
which
will also be responsible for overseeing rehabilitation programs
for
seasonal migrant workers, Native Americans, and others. The
reorganization, scheduled to take effect on October 1, will
violate the
1974 amendments to the Randolph-Sheppard Act, which give the RSA
specific duties to oversee the program and require that a
minimum of
thirteen full-time equivalent staff members be assigned to carry
out
those duties. The court filing asserts that the reorganization
will mean
that less than half of the number of staff required by law will
be
assigned to carry out responsibilities relating to the
employment
program.

The suit requests a court order requiring the Education
Department to
maintain the current personnel and organizational structure to
administer the Randolph-Sheppard program as mandated by
Congress. A
hearing is expected to take place soon.

About the National Federation of the Blind
With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the
Blind is
considered the largest and most influential membership
organization of
blind people in the United States. The NFB improves blind
people's lives
through advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs
encouraging independence and self-confidence. It is the leading
force
in the blindness field today and the voice of the nation's
blind. In
January 2004, the NFB opened the National Federation of the
Blind
Jernigan Institute, the first research and training center in
the United
States for the blind led by the blind.

About the National Association of Blind Merchants
The National Association of Blind Merchants, a division of the
National
Federation of the Blind, is a membership organization of blind
persons
employed in either self-employment work or the Randolph-Sheppard
vending
program. It provides information regarding rehabilitation,
social
security, taxes and other issues that directly affect blind
merchants,
and serves as an advocacy and support group.