Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act

Children who are deaf, hard of hearing, deafdisabled, blind or visually impaired, and deafblind would gain new protections and specialized services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the federal special-education law. States would have to identify these students even when they are counted under a different disability category, evaluate them using specialists, and, within two years, file addendums showing how they guarantee access to American Sign Language for deaf students and Braille for blind students unless a parent waives it. Schools for the deaf or blind would get new protection: a state that closes, merges, or consolidates one would be treated as cutting its special-education funding. The bill adds intervener services for deafblind students, requires early-intervention plans for infants and toddlers to spell out language and communication goals for families, and steers federal grants toward training more teachers of the deaf, teachers of the blind, and interveners. It also creates the Anne Sullivan Macy Center on Visual Disability and Educational Excellence inside the Department of Education to run research, continuing education, and student enrichment programs, funded at "such sums as may be necessary" with funding required to hold level or grow for at least four following years and a 15 percent cap on carryover. The Education Secretary would have to monitor state compliance, regularly report findings to Congress, and review federal policy guidance at least every five years.