THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	1
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII		H.D. 1

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

URGING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT A PROGRAM TO RECRUIT AND EMPLOY QUALIFIED BLIND PERSONS TO SERVE AS ORIENTATION AND MOBILITY INSTRUCTORS AND IN OTHER POSITIONS AS TEACHERS OF VISUALLY IMPAIRED STUDENTS.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, the National Orientation and Mobility Certification (NOMC) is a credentialing process administered by the National Blindness Professional Certification Board and includes training for teaching Structured Discovery Cane Travel to blind individuals; and

 

     WHEREAS, for decades, Structured Discovery Cane Travel has empowered blind children and adults across the United States, helping them build confidence and feelings of self-respect as they move safely from place to place; and

 

     WHEREAS, the methods and principles of 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 techniques, problem solving strategies, experiential learning, confidence building exercises, and the role modeling of non-visual techniques, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the structured discovery approach and helps correct misconceptions about blindness; and

 

     WHEREAS, historically, the Department of Education has not employed NOMC credentialed professionals to teach matters of orientation and mobility to blind students, and until recently, only accepted the Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS) credentialing from the Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals; and

 

     WHEREAS, the COMS certification focuses on vision-centered orientation and mobility services, but does not focus on the structured discovery approach; and

 

     WHEREAS, the structured discovery approach emphasizes the employment of blind instructors, whereas the vision-centered orientation and mobility approach emphasizes the employment of non-blind instructors, resulting in diminished employment opportunities for qualified blind persons as instructors in Department of Education programs; and

 

     WHEREAS, while the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board now accepts NOMC credentialed professionals to serve in certain positions for which they are qualified to teach visually impaired students, this change has not significantly increased employment of blind instructors in the Department of Education; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Education is urged to develop and implement an affirmative action program, to the extent permitted by law, designed to recruit and employ qualified blind professionals to serve as orientation and mobility instructors and in other positions as teachers of visually impaired students; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Superintendent of Education is urged to prepare a report of its findings and recommendations regarding the recruitment and employment of blind persons in instructional positions within the Department of Education for which they are qualified, with the goal of increasing such employment, and include in this report actions taken, progress made, and any proposed legislation, and submit the report to the Legislature no later than thirty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2023; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Interim Superintendent of Education, Chairperson of the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board, Administrator of the Department of Human Services' Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Ho‘opono Services for the Blind Branch, 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.

Report Title: 

Department of Education; Visually Impaired Students; Qualified Blind Professionals; Orientation and Mobility Instructors; Deaf and Blind Task Force