Bill Text: HI HR93 | 2020 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requesting The Hawaii Teacher Standards Board To Accept The National Orientation And Mobility Certification For Teachers Providing Orientation And Mobility Services.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 19-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-03-11 - Referred to LHE/IAC, CPC, referral sheet 40 [HR93 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2020-HR93-Introduced.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.R. NO. |
93 |
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THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2020 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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HOUSE RESOLUTION
REQUESTING THE HAWAII TEACHER STANDARDS BOARD 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 Hawaii Teacher Standards Board 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 2020, that the Hawaii Teachers Standards Board 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 of Education; 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, Chair of the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board, 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.
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OFFERED BY: |
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Hawaii Teacher Standards Board; Special Education; Blindness; Teacher Certifications; Cane Travel; National Blindness Profession Certification Board
