March 25, 2025
The Honorable Linda McMahon
Secretary
United States Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202
Dear Secretary McMahon:
The National Federation of the Blind, the transformative membership and advocacy organization of blind Americans, is deeply troubled by the recent executive order regarding the directive to close the United States Department of Education. The programs outlined below are essential to promote education, independence, and economic opportunity for millions of American citizens. Without clear plans for how these statutorily established programs will be maintained, blind Americans and their families have no transparency into future plans, no clear lines of advocacy for due process, and an abundance of uncertainty regarding their current educational and rehabilitation services.
Within the Department of Education is the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services that houses the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) providing essential resources for blind people to obtain education and employment. These divisions are responsible for the enforcement and oversight of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq.), the American Printing House for the Blind’s (APH) federal quota program (20 U.S.C. § 101 et seq.), vocational rehabilitation services (29 U.S.C. § 701 et seq.), the Randolph-Sheppard program (20 U.S.C. § 107 et seq.), and the Independent Living Services for Older Individuals who are Blind (OIB) program (29 U.S.C. 796j-796l). Additionally, the loss of the Office for Civil Rights, including its Digital Accessibility Team, will mean schools can discriminate against blind and other disabled students without recourse. We are gravely concerned that the drastic reduction in workforce, and the ultimate closure of the Department of Education, will result in diminished service for millions of students, employees, entrepreneurs, and older Americans with disabilities across the country who utilize the above programs.
According to the OSEP webpage, it is “dedicated to improving results for infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities ages birth through 21 by providing leadership and financial support to assist states and local districts.” This office ensures that blind students have the right to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment available outlined under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The IDEA provides federal funding to states to provide required “special education” services for public school students with disabilities. While states provide most of the special education funding, the federal government provides about 15 billion dollars. This serves some 7.5 million students. Special education services for the blind include Braille instruction, access technologies, and specialized teachers of the blind. This instruction is important for blind people to learn so we may be able to use the skills to find employment in our chosen fields. Any reduction in services and funding to enforce these laws will leave blind and disabled students vulnerable to civil rights violations and loss of services.
The OSEP also plays an essential role in supporting the APH’s Federal Quota Program, which was established by Congress in 1879, nearly 150 years ago. According to the APH website, the Federal Quota Program determines “the per-student funding allocation for purchasing educational materials from the American Printing House . . . Educators and parents can use these funds to obtain specialized educational products and materials for students who are blind or low vision.” Without this statutorily required federal funding, blind and low-vision students will lose access to these critical products and materials, which will in turn create a new barrier to our education.
The RSA oversees vocational rehabilitation services that provide formula grants to State agencies assisting blind people in finding employment opportunities after we have concluded our educational endeavors. Specifically, these grants provide vocational rehabilitation programs to help people with disabilities become employed. The federal government provides about 79 percent of the funding, with states providing the rest. Vocational rehabilitation programs serve over 800,000 individuals each year. A reduction in this funding will lead to service cuts in these programs, leaving blind people who want to work, travel independently, or learn Braille and technology unable to find the support they need.
In addition, the specialized employment program governed by the Randolph-Sheppard Act, one of our nation’s oldest programs specifically intended to promote the entrepreneurial spirit of blind business owners, receives assistance from the RSA helping blind people be a productive driving force in the American economy. The Randolph-Sheppard Act provides blind vendors a priority to operate on federal properties like military bases, government buildings, and highway rest stops. This priority has existed in federal law for nearly ninety years and the program is currently administered by the Department of Education. The closure of the Department may leave blind vendors vulnerable to being shut out of these facilities.
The Independent Living Services for Older Individuals who are Blind program provides grants to states to support services for blind individuals aged fifty-five and older in order to help these Americans adjust to their blindness by increasing their ability to care for their individual needs. This often comes in the form of specialized blindness mobility training and learning how to use various pieces of access technology. The OIB program is currently under the jurisdiction of the Department of Education, and the closure of the department could lead to increased dependency upon other governmental programs for these Americans who simply want to live a dignified and independent life.
While we are sympathetic and understanding of the need to reduce overall federal spending, we also believe that these programs are essential to promote education, independence, and economic opportunity for all American citizens, particularly those who are blind or have other disabilities. We urge you to maintain the personnel and capability to administer these four programs to their fullest and most beneficial extent to serve blind and other disabled Americans.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Mark A. Riccobono, President
National Federation of the Blind