Dear County and District Superintendents, Charter School Administrators, and Special Education Local Plan Area Directors:
IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSEMBLY CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 162
Each year, October is designated as National Disability Employment Awareness Month. In California, Assembly Concurrent Resolution 162 was passed to designate the second week in October as Disability History Week. To commemorate the importance of these designations, the California Department of Education (CDE) will institute a series of activities at its headquarters in Sacramento.
The purpose of this letter is to promote awareness of these activities as well as to provide schools with resources available to be used in curriculum and social activities. The list of resources that are included with this letter is meant to assist districts in meeting the requirements of ACR 162 in developing materials for educating students about the important contributions of people with disabilities and the importance of the disability rights movement.
Raising awareness about disabilities is about the protection of students with disabilities from discrimination or harassment. California Education Code (EC) protects students from discrimination or harassment based on nationality, race, ethnicity, religion, or disability. The purpose of these EC sections is to ensure the right of all students in California public schools to participate fully in the educational process, as stated in EC sections 200 and 201. In addition, EC Section 220 specifically prohibits discrimination against students on the “basis of disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation” in any school programs or activities.
The CDE provides guidance to local school districts on their duty to protect students in public schools from discrimination on the CDE Duty to Protect Students Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/di/eo/dutytoprotect.asp. This Web page includes citations of additional EC sections that ensure access to quality education, which is a fundamental right of every student and is fully guaranteed and protected by the California Constitution.
It is my hope that schools can use resources like these to help promote awareness of the diversity within their communities and help reduce incidents based on misunderstanding and intolerance of people with disabilities.
If you have any questions regarding disability history and awareness, please contact Linda Wyatt, Consultant, Special Education Division, by phone at 916-322-3254 or by e-mail at lwyatt@cde.ca.gov.
Sincerely,
Tom Torlakson
TT:km
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