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Statement by
Tuck Tinsley III, Ed.D.
President
American Printing House for the Blind
Louisville, Kentucky
on
Fiscal Year 1998 Request for the
American Printing House for the Blind
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:
It is a pleasure for me to present the President's fiscal year 1998 budget request for the American Printing House for the Blind (APH). In 1879, Congress passed the Act to Promote the Education of the Blind, which mandates that APH, a nonprofit agency, produce and distribute specially designed and adapted educational materials necessary for precollege level blind students to have an equal opportunity to participate in their educational programs. Availability of these materials is essential in the States' provision of a public education to blind students. Thus, the Act to Promote the Education of the Blind serves a Federal responsibility by facilitating the Federal mandate that all children receive a free appropriate public education as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
The Act to Promote the Education of the Blind designates a Board of Ex Officio Trustees, currently 160 professionals, who assure that funding for the Act is used to produce and distribute specially designed educational materials which are not otherwise available. The Ex Officio Trustees are composed primarily of representatives of State departments of education, superintendents of residential schools for the blind, and directors of instructional materials resource centers. These direct service providers assure that APH receives ongoing State and local advice on the needs of blind students. Their approval is necessary for decisions ranging from the research to be undertaken to the materials to be produced by APH.
By approving the expenditure of appropriated funds for only unique educational materials designed for blind students, the Ex Officio Trustees ensure that this program does not duplicate other programs.
The total request for funding the Act to Promote the Education of the Blind for fiscal year 1998 is $6.68 million, maintaining funding at the same appropriation level as fiscal years 1995, 1996, and 1997.
The request for fiscal year 1998 includes $5.91 million to supply special educational materials to an estimated 57,008 legally blind students. An appropriation at this level maintains funding for educational materials at the 1997 level. The number of students to be served represents an increase of 1,118 or 2 percent over the number registered for fiscal year 1997. The resulting per capita allotment for 1998 would be $103.67, a decrease of $2.07 or 2 percent from the 1997 appropriation level.
These funds are used to produce and distribute textbooks in braille and large type, tangible teaching devices, educational tests, and special instructional aids, tools, and materials adapted for students who are legally blind. While the States are required to provide a free appropriate public education to all students with disabilities under IDEA, this appropriation ensures that a minimum level of materials is made available to the States on an annual basis to assist in the education of students who are blind. This activity helps promote achievement of the National Education Goals by providing the special education materials these students need to succeed in academic settings.
These educational materials are distributed free on a national basis to programs serving the blind through proportional allotments based on the number of blind students in each State. An annual census is conducted by APH to identify legally blind students in each State and allotments are provided in the form of credits. Materials are selected and ordered at the local level based upon student need. Most States have developed instructional materials resource centers which act as lending libraries; thus, the materials can be reused year after year. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires States to provide a free appropriate public education to students who are blind. The Act to Promote the Education of the Blind helps States to address this requirement on a nationwide basis.
The 1998 request maintains funding for Advisory Services at the 1997 level of $175,000. The appropriation for Advisory Services supports a variety of activities necessary to administer the Act. These activities include the annual census of blind students; meetings of two advisory committees, the Educational Research Advisory Committee and the Publications Advisory Committee; a required Annual Meeting of Ex Officio Trustees; the production of catalogs of educational materials produced through the Act; and field services such as consultation, in-service training, and workshops. These Advisory Services activities help to ensure that the research and development undertaken, and the special materials produced and distributed, address current and future needs of blind students. The activities also focus on ensuring that schools and educational personnel are aware of the materials available and have the knowledge necessary to use them.
The request includes $15,000 to continue a special copyright initiative to augment APH's efforts to obtain copyright permissions. This initiative was established to address issues related to difficulties in obtaining permissions for the reproduction in alternative formats of textbooks required for legally blind students. Authors have become increasingly concerned about the protection of their intellectual properties and have been demanding contracts that are much more restrictive for publishers. These contracts severely limit the ability of publishers to grant permission for reproduction of works without the express permission of the authors and each individual contributing to the text. A major breakthrough occurred when the Copyright Act was amended in September 1996. The amendment allows nonprofit organizations like APH to reproduce and distribute braille, recorded, and digital books for use by the blind without going through time-consuming negotiations with each publisher. However, large type materials are not covered by the amendment. The amount requested will support APH's efforts to address the needs of students who primarily rely on large type materials and who constitute approximately 26% of the legally blind student population. APH performs this activity on its own behalf and also negotiates to have extensions of permission it obtains for use by States and other nonprofit organizations reproducing these materials for blind students.
The request also includes $170,000 to support an initiative to continue the upgrade of APH's CARL ET AL database. This system is an on-line database that lists educational materials in formats accessible to people who are visually impaired. It contains bibliographic and location information for over 120,000 titles of books and materials available in braille, large type, recorded form, computer disk, and tactile graphics. Titles include textbooks, teaching materials, computer instruction manuals, music, and recreational reading in many fields of study. The current system is functioning adequately for administrators and educators who need to access books and materials in alternative formats. However, it is difficult for students, who are the ultimate consumers of the materials, to access the database. In addition, use of the Internet is increasingly becoming part of the everyday routine for many Americans. The upgrade to the system would enhance the APH web site by putting CARL ET AL, audio clips, library abstracts, and other information within easy reach of computer users. Students would be able to go directly to the web site and explore available materials. They could then make suggestions to their teachers regarding the materials they would like to use. This would increase the independence of students and increase the relevance of materials used in teaching these students.
The request for educational and technical research is at the 1997 level of $410,000. These funds provide a base to enable APH to develop needed educational materials addressing areas such as braille reading and writing; low vision assessment and training; microcomputer applications; and products for special groups such as visually impaired infants and preschoolers and visually impaired students with additional handicapping conditions.
Research and development efforts reflect the advice and recommendations from educators and consumers that is actively solicited on a national basis. During fiscal year 1996, 68 agencies and 112 consultants participated in APH research activities. These included activities such as researching and determining optimal reading features of large type, setting standards for production of large type materials, and researching and determining optimal readability features of tactile graphics necessary to set standards for tactile graphic production.
In providing needed materials for a very low incidence population, the Act is structured and administered to maximize Federal resources in the service of local needs:
APH has placed great emphasis on assuring optimum efficiency and effectiveness in the organization's administrative and manufacturing processes. Three key elements in this effort are: (1) a comprehensive strategic planning process; (2) membership in the Center for Quality of Management; and (3) selection as a project company by the Toyota Motor Corporation.
APH's long range planning process and resulting Strategic Plan for 1997 are deeply rooted in "voices of our customers." This process, first involved identifying major customer requirements and measures of progress toward meeting those requirements. Objectives were then formulated from the measures, strategies were identified to meet the objectives, and an action plan was developed and implemented for each of the strategies. The strength of this process is the fact that it is based on the needs of APH's customers.
APH management has participated in several workshops conducted by the Center for Quality of Management (CQM). Subsequently, APH has been invited to become the seventh member of the Louisville Chapter of CQM on April 1, 1997. Other members include the Ford Motor Company (Kentucky Truck Plant), Hillerich & Bradsby Company (producer of the Louisville Slugger), and SerVend International. CQM is a nonprofit consortium of companies dedicated to the integration, implementation, and diffusion of the best, proven management practices available.
Perhaps most significantly, APH was recently selected by Toyota as a "project company." Toyota will begin working with APH on a pro bono basis in April 1997 to improve plant productivity and reduce costs through the adaptation of the Toyota Production System in the unique manufacturing applications at APH.
The American Printing House for the Blind continues to be committed to meeting the needs of blind students through the research, development, and provision of unique educational materials necessary for them to have an equal opportunity to benefit from their educational programs. The Act to Promote the Education of the Blind is a program that works. It was good in 1879; it is even better in 1997! The key is continuous advice from direct service providers at the State and local levels, with all the obvious benefits of grass roots' involvement.
Mr. Chairman, I will be pleased to respond to any questions you may have concerning our fiscal year 1998 budget request.
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