RESOLUTION 94-01 WHEREAS the Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted into law for the purpose of guaranteeing equal rights to disabled persons, and WHEREAS access to information has been identified as a right that must be granted to disabled individuals, and WHEREAS the ADA has beeen in effect for four 4 years, and WHEREAS the part of the law (ADA) dealing with the provision of alternative formats for blind and visually impaired individuals has been widely ignored by many governmental agencies and private entities covered by the ADA, thereby denying blind and visually impaired people appropriate access to information, and WHEREAS viable alternatives to access information include enlarged print, braille and tape, although many blind people prefer braille, and WHEREAS new technological developments have dramatically increased the availability and lowered the cost of such materials, be it therefore RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Maine, in convention assembled this seventeenth day of September 1994, in the city of Lewiston, that the blind of this organization recognize their responsibility to inform covered entities of their needs, thereby changing attitudes of the effectiveness of alternatives, and be it further RESOLVED that this organization and its members be encouraged to request materials in alternative formats from state agencies and other government entities businesses and non-profit organizations wherever applicable. and be it further RESOLVED that this organization will assist its members in initiating actions to bring covered entities into compliance with the ADA. Resolution 94-02 WHEREAS the National Library Service along with consumer organizations of the blind have developed competency testing for teachers of the blind and visually impaired, and WHEREAS Maine has enacted legislation which guarantees the right of Braille literacy to all blind and visually impaired students, and WHEREAS this testing will help to ensure the abilities of teachers of the blind and visually impaired, and WHEREAS the State of Maine's Department of Education was to have reported to the legislature concerning this testing over 2 years ago, and WHEREAS results of the testing are confidential, and WHEREAS this organization wants to ensure a basic level of skills for teachers and choice in alternatives for our blind and visually impaired students, be it therefore RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Maine, in convention assembled this seventeenth day of September 1994, in the city of Lewiston, that this organization shall work to ensure the adoption of this testing as part of the certification standards for teachers of the blind and visually impaired and be it further RESOLVED that any further delays on the part of the Department of education in bringing specifics to the state legislature concerning the competency testing for teachers of the blind and visually impaired shall be seen as stall tactics, and will not be tolerated, and be it further RESOLVED that this resolution shall be sent to the Governor, the Commissioner of the Department of Education, the director of the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and members of the state legislature. RESOLUTION 94-03 WHEREAS teachers of the blind and visually impaired in Maine are provided by the private agency currently known as Catholic Charities of Maine, and WHEREAS private agencies of this type often evade state and federal educational regulations, which fact leads to a lack of accountability affecting the students that they ostensibly serve in a negative manner, and WHEREAS privatization of specialized services to blind children is in conflict with the spirit, if not the letter of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and in fact leads to a pattern of significant violations of the act in Maine, an WHEREAS services provided under IDEA are a direct responsibility of public education, including local educational agencies and the state deptartment of education itself, and WHEREAS privatization is an evasion of responsibility and denies blind and visually impaired students the free, appropriate public education to which they are entitled by law, be it therefore RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Maine, in convention assembled this seventeenth day of September 1994, in the city of Lewiston, that the National Federation of the Blind of Maine, Inc. urge the legislature to repeal mandatory provision of services through the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired and the privatization resulting therefrom, and be it further RESOLVED that copies of this resolution be sent to the Governor, the State Legislature, and the Commissioner of the Department of Education.