{"id":13278,"date":"2011-02-17T17:50:15","date_gmt":"2011-02-17T22:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=13278"},"modified":"2011-02-19T21:10:31","modified_gmt":"2011-02-20T02:10:31","slug":"bending-a-deaf-ear-towards-the-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2011\/02\/17\/bending-a-deaf-ear-towards-the-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"Bending a Deaf Ear Towards the Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bending a Deaf Ear Towards the Budget<\/strong><\/p>\n

by ARI PHILLIPS<\/p>\n

Monday, February 14, 2011<\/p>\n

The atmosphere at this morning\u2019s House Appropriations Subcommittee meeting
\non the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) and the
\nTexas School for the Deaf (TSD) was somewhat subdued, perhaps owing to the
\nfact that it began at 7:00 a.m. on a Monday.<\/p>\n

However, between the breakfast taco banter the conversation did often turn
\nserious, due to the gravity of the subject matter and proposed cuts to these
\ninstitutions.<\/p>\n

Rep. Scott Hochberg, a Houston Democrat and Chair of the Committee, made it
\nclear early on that a full review of services and mission should be expected
\ndue to current budgetary constrictions that call for a 10 percent cut from
\nboth schools. \u201cWe\u2019re not going to restore everything,\u201d Hochberg said. \u201cA
\nsignificant number of people who voted in this state want government to do
\nless. So it\u2019s our job to ask questions about who you\u2019re serving and who
\nyou\u2019re not and where the priorities are.\u201d<\/p>\n

But as members of the public testified, it became clear how valuable these
\nservices are to the families who depend on them. Robbie Caldwell, mother of
\n9-year-old Gabrielle Caldwell, who is both deaf and blind, said, \u201ceach year
\nmy daughter is at TSD she makes advances previously thought unimaginable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if the Legislature musters the courage to whack schools for the blind
\nand deaf, the state may be putting itself in jeopardy of big-time lawsuits.<\/p>\n

Bill Daugherty, superintendent for the SBVI, told Senators on the finance
\ncommittee last week that under the federal Individuals with Disabilities
\nEducation Act, special needs schools are required to enroll students who
\ncan\u2019 t get adequate service from local school districts.<\/p>\n

With both schools being asked to take 10 percent budget cuts, it would seem
\nimpossible to keep up with enrollment demand. Dvorah Ben-Moshe, President of
\nCivication, an organization that promotes civic learning, said, \u201cServices
\nfor the deaf are now experiencing an unprecedented increase in Texas at 12
\npercent. With increased enrollment, Texas School for the Deaf needs more
\nfunding not less.\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently TSD has about 550 students. Sustaining the proposed 10 percent cut
\nwould force them to slash enrollment to about 470, according to Claire
\nBugen, superintendent of TSD. Not only would this inhibit TSD from meeting
\nits legal obligation of accepting students referred from local school
\ndistricts, but it would also force them to cut personnel and reduce crucial
\nservices.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this 10 percent cut is maintained we\u2019ll have to redefine our scope of
\nservices and mission,\u201d said Bugen.<\/p>\n

Source:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.texasobserver.org\/our-reporting\/item\/17414-bending-a-deaf-ear-towards-the-budget<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bending a Deaf Ear Towards the Budget by ARI PHILLIPS Monday, February 14, 2011 The atmosphere at this morning\u2019s House Appropriations Subcommittee meeting on the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) and the Texas School for the…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[4621,7960,8079,1164,8097,8095,8099,7956,7957,8096,3777,123,4133,8098,2422,604,8094,80],"class_list":["post-13278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-article","tag-bill-daugherty","tag-budget-cuts","tag-claire-bugen","tag-dvorah-ben-moshe","tag-gabrielle-caldwell","tag-house-appropriations-subcommittee","tag-idea","tag-individuals-with-disabilities-education-act","tag-lawsuits","tag-legislature","tag-meeting","tag-rep-scott-hochberg","tag-robbie-caldwell","tag-texas-school-for-the-blind-and-visually-impaired","tag-texas-school-for-the-deaf","tag-tsbvi","tag-tsd"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-3sa","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1198,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2007\/02\/08\/tsbvi-superintendent-vacancy-announcement\/","url_meta":{"origin":13278,"position":0},"title":"TSBVI Superintendent Vacancy Announcement","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"February 8, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired announces the vacancy of the position of Superintendent effective summer, 2007 and invites applications from qualified candidates. 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