A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

   FOR RELEASE                                  Contact: Rick Miller    August 25, 1995                              (202) 401-2571

Education Officials to Join China Delegation

Deputy Secretary of Education and former Vermont Gov. Madeleine Kunin and former Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services Judith Heumann joined the U.S. government's delegation to the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women to begin Sept. 4 in Beijing.

Kunin was the first woman elected governor of Vermont and the only woman to have served three terms as governor.

At the Department of Education, Kunin has worked tirelessly to promote issues important to women, including family involvement in education, access to higher education and health care.

"This conference will be an historic event bringing together women from all points of the globe to forge a common agenda of equal opportunity for themselves and their families," Kunin said. "I plan to focus on encouraging greater political participation for women and providing equal access to education. The level of education of women and girls remains the key that unlocks the door of opportunity."

Kunin attended the U.N. World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen, Denmark in March 1995. She also serves on the President's Management Council as well as the President's task force on affirmative action.

Heumann directed programs that serve nearly six million children, youth and adults with disabilities. Heumann, who had polio at age 18 months, has been a leader in issues of disabilities since 1969 when she was denied a job because of her disability and subsequently sued the New York City Board of Education to become the first wheelchair user to teach in the New York public schools.

"It is an honor that I have been asked to be a part of the official U.S. Delegation to the U.N. Conference on Women," said Heumann. "It is my hope that I will be able to help to continue to integrate the platform on issues affecting girls and women, particularly those who are disadvantaged or have disabilities. The U.S. delegation will be one of a few that has a disabled woman as a member."