WHEREAS, if I were a blind high school senior and a client of the California Department of Rehabilitation and I worked hard in high school and got accepted into the University of California Berkeley; and
WHEREAS, if I had applied for the FAFSA and other financial aid resources thereby meeting my full obligations for financial support for college tuition as a blind client of the California Department of Rehabilitation; and
WHEREAS, if I then told you, my Blind Field Services Counselor, about my academic achievements and my employment goals that involved my dream of graduating from UC Berkeley and becoming a high school math teacher after taking advantage of all the opportunities offered at a prestigious four year public institution; and
WHEREAS, you as my rehabilitation counselor bought in to the interpretation of the rules set fourth by the California Department of Rehabilitation and were convinced that these interpretations were the only way to provide services to blind clients; and
WHEREAS, you thus congratulated me for being accepted to UC Berkeley then told me that you would be happy to support my Individualized Plan for Employment by paying part of the tuition for UC Berkeley at the current tuition rate for California Community Colleges of $20 per unit for the equivalent of the first two years of college; and
WHEREAS, you informed me that even though I had already been accepted to UC Berkeley, and that I had admirably demonstrated through high grades, test scores, and other indicators that I am prepared for college; that you could not pay for the full tuition during the first two years at any California public four year school without asking for permission first and providing justification for why I deserve to go to UC Berkeley; and
WHEREAS, you continued by telling me that I could go to UC Berkeley and find other ways to pay for my tuition during my freshman and sophomore years or I could choose to attend a community college so that you could fully pay for my tuition during the first two years of college; and
WHEREAS, as a blind student who had worked so hard to gain the adaptive skills to be competitive with my peers, this would make me feel like I had worked hard for no reason since entrance requirements are minimal for a community college and anyone who wants to attend community college can do so regardless of their grades or efforts in high school; and
WHEREAS, the California Community College system offers excellent opportunities and educational preparation for many students who choose to attend a community college before going on to complete a bachelor's degree, or for those students who were not competitive enough to earn acceptance into one of California's public four year schools, but I was accepted into UC Berkeley because I chose to focus on being prepared as a student; and
WHEREAS, the options you would have presented to me would make me feel that I wasted my time working so hard if you, as a rehabilitation counselor, were not going to be able to help be achieve my goals by supporting my choice of public university; and
WHEREAS, the same message is being sent by rehabilitation counselors and the California Department of Rehabilitation to blind clients throughout California who are working towards obtaining a college education as part of their Individualized Plan for Employment; and
WHEREAS, the California Department of Rehabilitation is thus promoting a disincentive for blind people to work hard and achieve their best academically by getting accepted directly into a four year public university where blind clients can best develop their individual strengths and capabilities; and
WHEREAS, the disincentive to work hard to get accepted directly into a four year public university, even when a blind client demonstrates the capacity to succeed there, sets up low expectations for the blind client and lowers the likelihood of that client graduating with a bachelor's degree and achieving a successful employment outcome: Now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of California in Convention assembled this sixteenth day of October, 2008, in the city of Irvine, California, that this organization call on the California Department of Rehabilitation to remove the disincentive for blind clients to attend a public university of their choice by providing funding at the full public university tuition rate for the equivalent of all four years of college if the blind client is accepted and chooses to attend; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Federation of the Blind of California call upon the California Department of Rehabilitation to directly communicate to all Blind Field Services staff the change in the interpretation of these rules so that rehabilitation counselors no longer have to request a waiver of these rules and provide justification when the blind client has already demonstrated the reasons why the full tuition should be paid by being accepted into a four year public university and choosing to attend; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Federation of the Blind of California call upon the California Department of Rehabilitation to accept a blind client's college acceptance letter to a California four year public university, completed FAFSA application, and the client's decision to attend a California four year public university as justification enough from rehabilitation counselors and eliminate any further steps to provide blind clients the means to attend the college of their choice and work toward their individual employment goal.