On Wednesday afternoon, a press conference took place at the National Center for the Blind. It announced that the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) had filed a complaint against the Baltimore City Public School system with the Maryland State Department of Education. The complaint states that the Baltimore City Public Schools do not provide their students with the important, essential things such as the proper equipment, skills, or testing assessments. The NFB proposed that the school systems allow us to help determine appropriate services for blind students. We are still awaiting a response from them.
We interviewed the NFB’s press contact, Chris Danielson. We asked him questions involving both sides of the story. For example, we asked him why he believed the school system wouldn’t take the time to properly assess their students. His response was that most schools want to treat blind students as if they weren’t blind. However, other considerations like the lack of financial resources and qualified personnel play a major part as well.
We also asked him why most students are denied the right to a second assessment. The answer to that is simple: most students don’t know their rights.
Chris believes that over a hundred students in the Baltimore school system are not getting the proper tools they need. He admits he’s not sure how many students drop out per year but is certain the numbers are quite high. Though he knows Baltimore is a struggling school system, he feels that that is no excuse to sell their blind students short.
Finally, we asked him what the NFB planned to do to ensure that students receive a quality education in Baltimore City. He indicated that our plans include pilot programs to teach elementary school students Braille and mobility, and to educate the students and their families on their rights.
While sitting in the audience, I watched as my fellow blogger and native Baltimorean, Denzel Ferges delivered a speech. It seems slightly ironic to me that this would be happening in the city where the NFB headquarters are. I’m sure it’s nothing any of us expected and no one liked. For, I know Denzel personally and he always seemed so together, so collected. But underneath the surface, he struggles with things he cannot do because his school system failed to give him the proper resources and training. It was an honor for me to be able to support Denzel and all of our fellow blind students in and outside of Baltimore by attending the press conference.