Bill Text: HI HR173 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Requesting The Hawaii Teacher Standards Board To Accept The National Orientation And Mobility Certification For Teachers Providing Orientation And Mobility Services.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-28 - Report adopted. referred to the committee(s) on FIN as amended in HD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cabanilla Arakawa, C. Lee excused (2). [HR173 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2019-HR173-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	173
THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2019
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO accept the national orientation and mobility certification for teachers providing orientation and mobility services.

 

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Education has perennially struggled to fill vacancies for teacher of blind students or teacher of the visually impaired positions, including positions providing specialized instruction in orientation and mobility; and

 

     WHEREAS, blind children in Hawaii end up being underserved with regard to orientation and mobility in the Department of Education, reducing their opportunity to participate equally and meaningfully with their sighted peers and build their capacity to contribute to the State's communities; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Education currently has no employees who hold the National Orientation and Mobility Certification (NOMC) from the National Blindness Professional Certification Board (NBPCB); and

 

     WHEREAS, for the teaching of orientation and mobility, the Department of Education currently only accepts the Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist certification from the Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals, which only gives the Department of Education the personnel resources to provide vision-centered orientation and mobility services, one of two major forms of orientation and mobility; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Education currently does not accept the NOMC offered by the NBPCB, making the Department of Education unable to provide Structured Discovery Cane Travel, a service which can only be provided by a professional certified by the NBPCB; and

 

     WHEREAS, when parents of blind children needing Structured Discovery Cane Travel request it as a service on their Individualized Education Plans, they are consistently told that the Department of Education is unable to provide this service, thus leaving their blind child without sufficient services; and

 

     WHEREAS, for decades, Structured Discovery Cane Travel has been empowering blind children and adults across the United States, helping them build confidence and feelings of self-respect as they navigate their world safely and without shame about their blindness; and

 

     WHEREAS, the methods and principles that undergird Structured Discovery Cane Travel come from the lived experiences of blind men and women who have shared their experiences, attitudes, and techniques with each other since 1940, leading to instructional services consisting of non-visual techniques, problem solving strategies, experiential learning, confidence building experiences, and the role modeling of non-visual techniques, which demonstrate their effectiveness while correcting misconceptions about blindness; and

 

     WHEREAS, the NOMC from the NBPCB is already accepted by the Hawaii Division of Vocational Rehabilitation in order to provide orientation and mobility services, where, in fact, all current providers of orientation and mobility services are blind adults certified by the NBPCB; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2019, that the Department of Education is requested to accept the National Orientation and Mobility Certification from the National Blindness Professional Certification Board for teachers providing orientation and mobility services in the Department; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Chairperson of the Board of Education, Superintendent of the Department of Education, Administrator of the Hawaii Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services for the Blind Branch (Ho‘opono), President of the National Blindness Professional

Certification Board, President of the National Federation of the Blind of Hawaii, and President of the Hawaii Association of the Blind.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Department of Education; Special Education; Blindness; Teacher Certifications; Cane Travel; National Blindness Profession Certification Board