Your Support Needed for SB 210!

 

Hello everyone!   Deaf children of California need your SUPPORT to end language deprivation.  SB 210 demands accountability for language acquisition.

 

SB 210 is CAD-sponsored bill to mandate language acquisition accountability for all Deaf children between the ages of 0 to 5 to make sure acquire language during their first five years which is instrumental for them to be Kindergarten-ready.  Next week the bill will be going to the Senate Appropriations Committee and we need your to send your letters of support.   You will find a sample letter you can use to send letters of support to the following SIX members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, send to each one individually.   Deaf children need your support!

 

Please send your letters of support for SB 210 to the Senate Appropriations Committee TODAY or no later than May 27th!!! READ below on how you can make a difference.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any question.  JulieSmario@gmail.com.

 

Many thanks in advance! 

 

Julie Rems-Smario, CAD President

 

 

 

Jillian Kissee, Appropriation Committee Consultant

(she does the bill analysis)

 

Honorable Ricardo Lara, Chair of Senate Appropriations Committee

State Capitol, Room 5050

Sacramento, California 95814

 

Honorable Patricia Bates, Vice Chair of Senate Appropriations Committee

State Capitol, Room 4048

Sacramento, California 95814

heidi,wettstein@sen.ca.gov

 

Honorable Jim Beall

State Capitol, Room 5066

Sacramento, California 95814

 

Honorable Jerry Hill

State Capitol, Room 5035

Sacramento, California 95814

 

Honorable Connie Leyva

State Capittol, Room 4061

Sacramento, California 95814

 

Honorable Tony Mendoza

State Capitol, Room 5061

Sacramento, California 95814

 

 

RE: SB 210 (Galgiani): Special Education: Deaf Children: Language Benchmarks – SUPPORT, as amended

Dear Senator ______________:

As a resident of California, I  support SB 210 bill to ensure that deaf children arrive at school with appropriate language development and Kindergarten-ready. A significant number of the approximate of nearly 4,000 Deaf children currently between of the ages of 0-5 in California arrive at Kindergarten with inadequate language development necessary to achieve the academic competencies and social emotional growth. This bill would require the state Department of Education to monitor and track the language development of Deaf children, with hearing levels that range from hard of hearing to profoundly deaf, through their IFSP (Individual Family Service Plan) or  IEP (Individual Education Plan) from birth to the age of five.  

Deaf children have the same ability and capability to learn language as their hearing peers. The ability and right to develop one’s language is central to the human experience and a necessary prerequisite to literacy, cognitive, emotional, linguistic, academic, and social growth. Without language, there can be no education. The delays caused by language deprivation are a common scenario for which there are no accountability from the professionals working with the Deaf infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and their families.  It is high time that California instills accountability in the education of Deaf pupils and focuses on language development using benchmarks during the child’s first five years to ensure they are Kindergarten-ready for academic success.

For these reasons, we encourage our Senate Appropriations Committee to fully to support SB 210, as amended.  Deaf children in California need you!

Sincerely,

Your name