Some parents angered by Daniels' picks for School for the Deaf board members

[yizuman]

For decades, students at the Indiana School for the Deaf have learned mostly through American Sign Language, by communicating with their hands.

But that method appears to be facing a challenge after Gov. Mitch Daniels' controversial appointments of three new board members with ties to the mainstreaming approach to teaching deaf children, an approach that encourages them to speak, to listen and sometimes read lips.

Many parents of students at the school remain firm believers in ASL and are alarmed at the governor's picks.

Karl Zachmann, who has two children at the school on Indianapolis' Northside, calls the appointments a sign of "rampant, overt and bigoted oppression" of deaf people who use ASL.

He and three other parents met last week with the governor's education policy adviser, Scott Jenkins, to urge the governor to reconsider his appointments.

He won't.

"We are hopeful the parents will give (the new board members) a chance," said the governor's spokeswoman, Jane Jankowski. Jenkins was on vacation and did not return phone calls.

At the core of the debate, which is raging nationally, is a disagreement over what deafness is. Some people see it as a vital part of a person's identity, something to be embraced. To them, ASL is a defining, unifying characteristic.

"ASL is more than a language; it's a culture," said Kim Yurek, the secretary of the school's parent organization, whose son, Philip, was a year old when he lost his hearing. Today, Philip is a sixth-grader at Indiana School for the Deaf and communicates enthusiastically through ASL -- he said he doesn't mind being deaf one bit. "It's just how I am," he said through his mother, "and I want to stay deaf."

"It would be great if he was 100 percent in my culture," said Kim Yurek, "but that's not who he is. He's deaf; he'll be in the deaf culture."

But others see deafness as a malady to be remedied and communicating through spoken language as a welcome alternative to ASL.

That discussion is not new, but with technological advances of the last decade, the spoken-language forces have become emboldened. New medical devices, such as improved digital hearing aids and cochlear implants, have made mainstreaming far more feasible. Eight of 10 families are now choosing that route, said Amy McConkey Robbins, a speech language pathologist who specializes in teaching deaf and hard-of-hearing children to communicate orally.

None of the new board members -- Mary Buhner, Scott Rigney and Lucy Witte -- would comment for this story. That includes a fourth new board member, Ann Reifel, whose appointment the school's parents applaud. Reifel is deaf and communicates using ASL. She is the Indiana School for the Deaf's first deaf board member in three years.

The board is made up of seven voting members and three nonvoting members. All four appointees are voting board members.

Jankowski declined to say directly that the governor was displeased with the school's performance but added, "Like with any other school, we're interested in improving the education and the accountability."

The school's test scores are low. Last spring, just 21 percent of its students passed both the math and English portions of ISTEP. And its cost is high; the school, which has 342 students, some of them residential, has an annual operating budget of $18.8 million.

As mainstreaming has gained steam, state schools for the deaf across the country, typically ASL bastions, are changing. Nebraska's school closed in the past few years. Louisiana's school closed, then reopened. Utah began offering a two-track program, with students and parents having a choice between oral learning and ASL.

Since the federal Education for All Handicapped Children Act, passed in 1975, ushered in an era of mainstreaming of deaf and other special-services students into public schools, Indiana School for the Deaf's enrollment has dropped by nearly two-thirds.

By contrast, about 2,000 deaf children are educated in mainstream public schools, predominantly through the spoken word.

The school-aged deaf population is changing with their improved hearing, said Cheryl DeConde Johnson, president of the Colorado-based advocacy group Hands & Voices, which doesn't take sides in the ASL debate, "and for schools for the deaf to be viable, they have to change, too."

Daniels' decision on the new oral-learning-leaning board members is the way of the future, she said, but the new board members "have to come in with an open mind and not an agenda."

Almost immediately, an important decision looms: the hiring of a new Indiana School for the Deaf principal.

David Geeslin, the school's superintendent, who communicates with ASL, said he would like to hire a person "who supports the use of ASL."

Source: Some parents angered by Daniels' picks for School for the Deaf board members | The Indianapolis Star | indystar.com

This is not good.....discrimination is spreading like wildfire.....it needs to be contained ASAP!!!

Yiz

 

[yizuman]

Deaf School Board Appointments Spark Outrage

INDIANAPOLIS -- New appointments to the board at the Indiana School For The Deaf have sparked outrage among some parents who believe it's part of an agenda to do away with American Sign Language.

Last month, Gov. Mitch Daniels appointed four new members to the board, only one of whom is deaf, 6News' Joanna Massee reported.

Some parents said they believe it's part of a push away from American Sign Language and toward Oralism, which involves lip reading.

"We are very deeply disappointed that the governor's office made the selection process for the board and it wasn't transparent," said parent Marvin Miller, who is deaf and whose four children, who are also deaf, attend the school.

Psychologist Julie Steck said the debate over how deaf children should communicate is a contentious topic that's fueled by emotion and recent advances in technology.

"More and more children with deafness and severe hearing losses can benefit from cochlear implants and hear enough speech to learn to speak to where they're understood by others," Steck said.

But parents like Tami Hossler, who considers American Sign Language her daughter's first language, believe more deaf individuals should be represented on the school board.

"It feels oppressive. It feels like discrimination," she said. "It feels like the governor is not listening to the concerns of parents and the community and the school community."

Daniels' spokeswoman Jane Jankowski told 6News by phone that nothing has been changed at the school, and that the governor hopes parents will give the new appointments a chance.

"This isn't an order to change the way the school operates. It's an opportunity for there to be new ideas and new conversations," Jankowski said. "The bottom line is we want students to have the best education possible."

Statistics from the Department of Education show the Indiana School For The Deaf's graduation rates are consistently below average.

The school's superintendent and school board chairman did not return 6News' calls for comment Tuesday.

Source: Deaf School Board Appointments Spark Outrage - Indiana News Story - WRTV Indianapolis

 

[yizuman]

Parents upset over deaf school board appointments

INDIANAPOLIS - The state's deaf community and their families are pushing back over proposed changes by the board of the Indiana School for the Deaf.

Governor Mitch Daniels recently appointed four new board members to the school, but some parents of students don't think the new members are on the right track.

The mission of the Indiana School for the Deaf is to educate deaf and hard of hearing children, but how those children are educated could change. The governor's appointment of non-deaf board members drew sharp criticism at a meeting last week.

"We have one deaf person at a huge table that is mostly populated by hearing people. We need people who understand [American Sign Language], deaf culture," said one person at the meeting.

Three of the four new board members do have deaf children, but they don't attend ISD and they support a different form of education - one that has divided the deaf community for more than 150 years. Half of the community believes in "oralism," which is correcting deafness medically and teaching speech. The other half embraces American Sign Language, which is taught at the Indiana school.

"If you want a teacher teaching in ASL directly to your child, this is it," said Kim Yurek.

Yurek's son has attended ISD for the past seven years. She's among those calling for the new members to step down.

"Why would they be part of an organization that is something, philosophically, that they are diametrically opposed to? How can they support the school if they don't agree with it?" Yurek asked.

"We think there's an opportunity for new board members to bring new ideas for consideration. We hope everyone will get to know them and give them a chance," said a spokeswoman for the governor.

But parents who attended last week's meeting aren't interested. They say it's not personal, they just want representatives with the same philosophy.

"So please forgive me that we want to throw you out. We're not going to stop until you're gone. We won't let you stay, period. So I suggest you just resign, do the right thing," said a parent.

That may be the only option, because the governor has no intention of reversing his decision. Besides the resignations, the parents are demanding that the board consist of at least six deaf members. They also want the governor to establish transparent procedures for appointing new members.

Source: Parents upset over deaf school board appointments - 13 WTHR

 

[flip]

Audist governor!

 

[Tousi]

Thanks for this; I've been watching this since last week.

 

[Daredevel7]

It DOES sound like they want to slowly change ISD towards oralism/mainstreaming. I wonder why.

Possible reason: "The school's test scores are low. Last spring, just 21 percent of its students passed both the math and English portions of ISTEP. And its cost is high; the school, which has 342 students, some of them residential, has an annual operating budget of $18.8 million."

$54,971 bucks per student sounds pretty... high. One of the most expensive private middle/high schools in Miami is $27,000 bucks per student (and that includes all the extra funding from alumni).

 

[JoeyDeafNinja]

I don't understand why these kind of people want to make deeaf children into "fixed children". If they make deaf children to learn only oral then what about blind and other disable people? Can they fix that? No, I don't think so. There no need to fix deafness.

 

[TWA]

It DOES sound like they want to slowly change ISD towards oralism/mainstreaming. I wonder why.

Possible reason: "The school's test scores are low. Last spring, just 21 percent of its students passed both the math and English portions of ISTEP. And its cost is high; the school, which has 342 students, some of them residential, has an annual operating budget of $18.8 million."

$54,971 bucks per student sounds pretty... high. One of the most expensive private middle/high schools in Miami is $27,000 bucks per student (and that includes all the extra funding from alumni).

THIS.

ISD is no longer the exemplary model of Deaf education. The school has been slipping in recent years. But the question is why? Answer: Mitch Daniels. He has systematically cut funding for the school over the years, and many of the quality deaf teachers have left, bringing in hearing instructors with lousy ASL skills.

I know of a couple families who have pulled their deaf children out of the school and are now mainstreaming them because the quality of education has gotten so lousy.

Something needs to be done, but this certainly isn't the way to do it.

 

[Foxrac]

THIS.

ISD is no longer the exemplary model of Deaf education. The school has been slipping in recent years. But the question is why? Answer: Mitch Daniels. He has systematically cut funding for the school over the years, and many of the quality deaf teachers have left, bringing in hearing instructors with lousy ASL skills.

I know of a couple families who have pulled their deaf children out of the school and are now mainstreaming them because the quality of education has gotten so lousy.

Something needs to be done, but this certainly isn't the way to do it.

I heard about Mitch Daniels killed the collective bargaining for state employees so it does means some part of affect to deaf teachers too?

 

[Glenn]

It will take a lawsuit to change Daniels' mind.

 

[Beowulf]

It will take a lawsuit to change Daniels' mind.

I sure hope not. Is it just me, or are there more cases such as this cropping up? It seems like a plague!

 

[posts from hell]

It DOES sound like they want to slowly change ISD towards oralism/mainstreaming. I wonder why.

Possible reason: "The school's test scores are low. Last spring, just 21 percent of its students passed both the math and English portions of ISTEP. And its cost is high; the school, which has 342 students, some of them residential, has an annual operating budget of $18.8 million."

$54,971 bucks per student sounds pretty... high. One of the most expensive private middle/high schools in Miami is $27,000 bucks per student (and that includes all the extra funding from alumni).

I also am aware of a few other things regarding this situation that is not even being reported anywhere.

The superintendent did something a couple years ago that kind of pissed people off in the "higher uppers"..... This is the unfortunate result.

This "something" was he gathered all the FOIA for deaf students in the mainstream system and proved that even with 21% ISD still out did the mainstream system. The big problem with the remaining 79% was that they are the problems of the mainstream that were sent to ISD.

THAT didn't bode too well with the higher uppers.... Just so you guys know this is not just a "financial issue" as much as it is actually a political issue.

 

[posts from hell]

It will take a lawsuit to change Daniels' mind.

Doubt it.

 

[posts from hell]

THIS.

ISD is no longer the exemplary model of Deaf education. The school has been slipping in recent years. But the question is why? Answer: Mitch Daniels. He has systematically cut funding for the school over the years, and many of the quality deaf teachers have left, bringing in hearing instructors with lousy ASL skills.

I know of a couple families who have pulled their deaf children out of the school and are now mainstreaming them because the quality of education has gotten so lousy.

Something needs to be done, but this certainly isn't the way to do it.

Just so you know, I've been personally told by the IAD President, Marvin Miller, that even with the budget cuts the school has seen some improvements.

No idea about the "quality deaf teachers leaving" though.

 

[netrox]

It DOES sound like they want to slowly change ISD towards oralism/mainstreaming. I wonder why.

Possible reason: "The school's test scores are low. Last spring, just 21 percent of its students passed both the math and English portions of ISTEP. And its cost is high; the school, which has 342 students, some of them residential, has an annual operating budget of $18.8 million."

$54,971 bucks per student sounds pretty... high. One of the most expensive private middle/high schools in Miami is $27,000 bucks per student (and that includes all the extra funding from alumni).

Here's the problem - there was NEVER a deaf school that did so well on English and Math and a bigger problem is that they used English to test their intelligence which is NOT an accurate way to measure their intelligence.

Many of the deaf there did poorly because they were severely delayed in their language development and it's MUCH harder to teach them ANY language and they were basically dumped at deaf schools.

Mainstreaming will NOT solve their intellectual development, whatsoever.

 

[Glenn]

Doubt it.

Because?

I've seen administrators get "budget cuts" in their heads and they're very difficult to persuade otherwise. Budget above quality of services seemed to be the theme.

 

[posts from hell]

Because?

I've seen administrators get "budget cuts" in their heads and they're very difficult to persuade otherwise. Budget above quality of services seemed to be the theme.

post #12.

The Supt couldnt get any more FOIA in after that....

Plus look at the Gov's other doings. Even the commonplace Indiana residents are angered about this issue and they have no involvement with the Deaf community just because it's Mitch's doing.

 

[deafdyke]

The school's test scores are low. Last spring, just 21 percent of its students passed both the math and English portions of ISTEP. And its cost is high; the school, which has 342 students, some of them residential, has an annual operating budget of $18.8 million."

$54,971 bucks per student sounds pretty... high

Yes, but even with low test scores, they score higher then mainstreamed kids. And granted the cost is high, BUT we're talking about highly specialized teachers, speech therapists, audilogists, and dorm staff.
Foxrac, I would like to see more Deaf Schools offer both ASL AND oral.....like make it hoh friendly. Kansas School and Oregon School and other Deaf Schools have offered hoh friendly Deaf ed for quite a while. It's not an either or choice!

 

[yizuman]

Parents Divided Over Possible Changes To Deaf School's Teachings

More of the Audist's dangerous agenda......

INDIANAPOLIS -- Some parents are defending controversial new appointments to the board at the Indiana School For The Deaf that some believe is part of an agenda to do away with teaching American Sign Language.

Last month, Gov. Mitch Daniels appointed four new members to the board, only one of whom is deaf and two of whom are known for their affiliation with oral communication, 6News' Joanna Massee reported.

Some parents are upset, and believe it's part of a nationwide push away from American Sign Language and toward Oralism, which involves lip reading.

But other parents said they welcome the new voices.

Joy Brown, whose daughter, Amanda, attended the Indiana School For The Deaf until the fourth grade, said the school discriminates against students like Amanda, who use both American Sign Language and oral communication.

"When she would walk in the door, it was almost like a switch went off, no talking at all," Brown said. "She said, 'We get in trouble, mom if we talk.'"

Brown said she can understand why parents believe the new board members will bring change and why they may feel threatened.

"They don't want the voices to come in. They want it to stay deaf," Brown said.

Kyle and Teri Capron, whose now-7-year-old son attended the Indiana School For The Deaf for preschool, said the school is known for emphasizing American Sign Language.

But they wanted their son, who has cochlear implants, to learn oral communication.

"I think it's been fabulous. I mean, he's excelled in school and with his friends and the family," Teri Capron said. "He's just like everybody else."

The couple said parents of deaf children should be informed of their options.

"It's a hearing world and we didn't want to have him have to rely on someone else to be his communication," Kyle Capron said. "I didn't want him to have to have an interpreter to go to the doctor."

School Board Chairman Scott Jensen has served on the board since 1999. He said the board recognizes the importance of diversity of thought and representation.

"We also support the school's longstanding bilingual and bi-cultural philosophy," Jensen said.

Daniels' spokeswoman Jane Jankowski told 6News by phone that nothing has been changed at the school, and that the governor hopes parents will give the new appointments a chance.

"This isn't an order to change the way the school operates. It's an opportunity for there to be new ideas and new conversations," Jankowski said. "The bottom line is we want students to have the best education possible."

Statistics from the Department of Education show the Indiana School For The Deaf's graduation rates are consistently below average.

The school's superintendent did not return 6News' calls for comment this week.

Source: Parents Divided Over Possible Changes To Deaf School's Teachings - Indiana News Story - WRTV Indianapolis

Basically this is what I view as a "deaf genocide" by destroying ASL and Deaf Culture as a whole and move deaf people into their "acceptable" Audist mainstream society.

Yiz

 

[deafdyke]

don't understand why these kind of people want to make deeaf children into "fixed children". If they make deaf children to learn only oral then what about blind and other disable people? Can they fix that? No, I don't think so. There no need to fix deafness.

Agreed. You know, why is it that we've got this preoccupation with speech vs Signwith dhh kids, but yet we don't have a preoocupation with using residual vision/large print vs. using Braille with blind kids?

We also support the school's longstanding bilingual and bi-cultural philosophy,

Yes. As I have been saying, we need to make bi bi education hoh friendly! Add, good speech therapy services as well as a split language early childhood program (meaning English in the morning and ASL in the afternoon) and you'll get a TON of parents sending their kid to Deaf School!