May 27, 2005

Dear Colleagues,
Joanne Wilson, NFB, Reports on Rally to Save Rehabilitation Services
Administration

We did it! We did it very, very well! Thank you all! To all of you who
could make it to the Rally in front of the Department of Education in
person, and to all of you at home who are doing what you can to save the
Rehabilitation Services Administration I thank you! Yesterday, the
National Federation of the Blind handed out 600 signs and there were at
least 2 people to every sign. The many signs from the cosponsors added
more color and information. Signs were everywhere!

May 26, 2005, was a splendid day for a rallysun shining, breeze blowing,
moderate temperature. You were all great participantsmen and women with
good lungs, good hearts, and GREAT enthusiasm for letting Secretary
Spellings know the flawed plan a small clique in her department is trying
to put into effect is a disaster in the making for Americans with
disabilities.

We had over 1,200 participants at the rally by our count. They came from
Hawaii and Maine, Maryland and Virginia, near and far from nearly every
state. We filled the block-long front sidewalk with rally marchers 4
people and more across, and more again on the sidelines. Todays
Washington Post article by Stephen Barr quotes department officials
saying only 300 to 400, but dont you believe it. When we publish the
photos, that bit of wishful thinking will be readily apparent. The faces
we saw peeking out the windows know better too.

It was really great having the many representatives there from so many
different groups in the disability community, and the unions! We picked
up 3 more cosponsors the day before, two of them at five minutes to five,
and we were joined by one more cosponsoring group at the rally site,
complete with their own banner. This brings the current total number of
cosponsors to 48. The full list is attached.

Of course, this is only the beginning of the fight to save RSA. Here are
some suggestions for what we need to do next. Each small action is vital
to the overall effort when one sets out to change a course set by a
bureaucracy.

BACK HOME:
Please urge your members at home to do any or all of these actions.

1. Email (or Fax: (202) 401-0596) a personal letter to
Margaret.Spellings@ed.gov; with a copy to Christina.Wilson@ed.gov; or
call her office at (202) 401-3000. Each person should email or fax a
copy of this letter to his or her elected representatives in Congress.
2. Contact the local press and get an article in the newspaper or on
television or radio. Right awayGet a follow-up article after the
rallytell the local press about local people traveling to Washington, D.
C. as Americans using a time-honored democratic tool. Include photos you
took of your own members at the rally. Old news is not news, so get your
copy and photos to your local daily paper or weekly paper, union paper or
online Web site today, or no later than tomorrow.
3. Write a letter to the editor or an opinion piece and get it
published in your local press.
4. Go to local political forums and press conferences. Ask your
elected representatives to support your needs.
5. Write and sign a petition to be emailed or faxed to Secretary
Spellings. In Maryland, a local organization wrote a petition that was
signed by all 500 members.
6. Hold your own press conference, and pass out Press Kits to
educate the reporters on the issue.

Thanks! Lets keep the pressure on!

Joanne Wilson
National Federation of the Blind
-------
Rally at Department of Education: May 26, 2005

1. RALLY SPONSOR: National Federation of the Blind (NFB)

RALLY COSPONSORS
2. AIM Independent Living CenterNew York (AIM CIL-NY)
3. American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)
4. American Association of the Deaf-Blind (AADB)
5. American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR)
6. American Council of the Blind (ACB)
7. American Rehab ACTion Network (ARAN)
8. ARC of DC
9. Art Education for the Blind (AEB)
10. Center for Disability Law & Policy, The (CDLP)
11. Central Council Tlingit & Haida Indians of Alaska
12. Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification, The (CRCC)
13. Consortia of Administrators for Native American Rehabilitation
(CANAR)
14. Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR)
15. Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Behavioral Health Care
in the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
16. DC Center for Independent Living, The (DC CIL)
17. District of Columbia Statewide Independent Living Council, The (DC
SILC)
18. Helen Keller National Center, The (HKNC)
19. Independent Living Support Foundation of DC (ILSF)
20. National Alliance of Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers in Vocational
Rehabilitation (NAMSFVR)
21. National Association of Blind Rehabilitation Professionals (NABRP)
22. National Association of the Deaf (NAD)
23. National Coalition on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB)
24. National Council 252 of Education Locals of the American Federation
of Government Employees, AFL-CIO
25. National Council of State Agencies for the Blind (NCSAB)
26. National Council on Rehabilitation Education (NCRE)
27. National Rehabilitation Association (NRA)
28. New Jersey Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association
29. Oregon Rehab ACTion Network (ORAN)
30. Parents of Blind Children-New Jersey (POBC-NJ)
31. Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Local 668
32. University of Kentucky Graduate Program in Rehabilitation Counseling
33. UK Rehabilitation Counseling Student Association, University of
Kentucky
34. Vermont Center for Independent Living (VCIL)

ADDITIONS, May 20 to May 26, 2005
35. AFSCME Council 92, AFL-CIO (American Federation of State and County
Municipal Employees, Maryland)
36. Alliance for Inclusive Education, The (ALFIE)
37. Association of Blind Citizens (ABC)
38. Brain Injury Association of America (BIAUSA)-- moving this group to
List of 34 groups.
39. Council for Independent Living of South Jersey (CILSJ)
40. Family Voices
41. Massachusetts Rehab ACTion Network (MARAN)
42. Pennsylvania Association of Rehabilitation Facilities (PARF)
43. Pennsylvania Rehabilitation Association (PRA?), a part of the
National Rehabilitation Association.
44. Self-Help for Hard-of-Hearing People (SSSH)
45. Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
46. State Employee AllianceCommunications Workers of America, Local
7076, AFL-CIO (SEACWA, Local 7076).
47. Texas Rehab ACTion Network
48. Vermont Statewide Independent Living Center (VTSILC)