Leaders from Arizona’s largest school for deaf and blind students are working with state Democratic senators on a bill they hope will extend its current funding from four years to 10 years after Republican Sen. Jake Hoffman shocked leaders of the school last session by refusing to extend its eight-year funding continuation.
State Sen. Priya Sundareshan, the Democrat representing Legislative District 18 in Tucson and sponsor of Senate Bill 1001, spoke at an event at the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and Blind in Tucson on Dec. 12.
“We are here to show support in fixing the wrong that happened this year,” Sundareshan said in an interview. “This is the very first bill of the year. Our work here today shows momentum to quickly rectify the wrongs of last year and to show we haven’t forgotten.”
In 2023 the fate of the school and its approximately 2,000 students in Tucson and Phoenix was uncertain.
During the 2023 legislative session, ASDB Superintendent Annette Reichman submitted the school’s audit report to the Arizona Legislature, anticipating funding approval for another eight years. Although the House of Representatives approved House Bill 2456, which sought the continuation of ASDB’s funding, the Senate inexplicably halted its progress.
“The Senate had not passed House Bill 2456 and we started to consider what that would mean for ASDB if they were considering shutting us down,” said Reichman in American Sign Language via an interpreter in a video posted on the school’s YouTube channel in June 2023.
Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, aimed to limit the continuation to two years, asserting that legislators possess the right to review the bill and ensure that students at ASDB schools receive proper attention from the state. However, he did not specify any specific issue — within the audit report or otherwise — influencing this decision.
“If you notice, I didn’t change it to one year, which is arguably what I wanted,” Hoffman said in a hearing in March.
Deaf and blind students have a constitutional right to education in the state of Arizona. Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and Blind, since it was founded in 1912, had “never had these kinds of questions before,” Reichman said at a senate hearing in March.
Most state agencies, including ASDB, have “sunset” rules, which means they must be evaluated at least once every 10 years and their funding can be renewed for 10 years at a time. But usually those are quick, procedural actions.
Despite Reichman’s urging for legislators to ask questions and her willingness to go through the audit report, senators opposing the eight-year continuation of funding didn’t pose any questions to Reichman, parents, teachers, or alumni during both Senate hearings on the bill.
“This outrageous attack on ASDB implies that a school run by individuals with disabilities for those with disabilities is not capable of operating legally and in the best interest of its students,” Sundareshan said at the Dec. 12 event at the school.
ASDB and lawmakers alike worry about how cutting down the funding time frame from eight years to four years could affect the school in the not-too-distant future by making it more difficult to find educators willing to come to Arizona long-term.
House Bill 2456 bill was eventually signed into law by Gov. Katie Hobbs.
“The Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (ASDB) is a cornerstone of the visually impaired and Deaf and hard of hearing communities in Arizona,” said Gov. Hobbs in her legislative action update in May 2023. “The ASDB community has been treated with disrespect and was not given equal access to participate in the legislative process. I encourage the Legislature to reflect on the passage of HB2456 and send me a bill next session that includes a full eight-year continuation.”
The institution plays a crucial role by serving 85% of deaf students in Arizona, according to Reichman. Of the students ASDB educates and serves: 64% are deaf or hard of hearing; 28% are blind or low vision; and 8% have a combined hearing loss and visual impairment.
According to a report by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, sensitization; awareness-raising and capacity-building programs; and special education training designed to prepare teachers and educators adequately are sorely lacking. Youth with disabilities remain under-represented in higher education institutions across the globe.
These local and global dynamics underscore the significance of ASDB’s continued support and draw attention to the broader issues surrounding hearing impairment and disabilities on a global scale.
Access to education
According to the Arizona Commission for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing, two out of 1,000 babies in Arizona are born with hearing loss. Typically, that number doubles by the age of 6. More than 20,000 people in Arizona are culturally Deaf.
Oscar Award-winning actor Troy Kotsur made history in 2022 when he became the first Deaf man to win the prestigious award. Kotsur, an Arizona native and an ASDB Phoenix Day School for the Deaf alumnus, emphasized the importance of ASL in his life.
“As a child, I experienced something called language deprivation. Not having access to language from the ages of 0 to 5,” Kotsur said through an ASL interpreter to Senate members in March. His doctor urged his parents to learn ASL and he was subsequently enrolled in ASDB. Through this, he was able to thrive in all areas of school, including his acting.
“I am a walking, living, breathing statistic,” Kotsur said, “and ASL saved my life.”
Children who experience early language deprivation or have limited exposure to spoken or sign language can experience serious health, education and quality of life issues, according to the National Association for the Deaf.
While some deaf students receive specialized education through schools like ASDB, some attend mainstream schools that combine hearing and deaf students.
Alexandria Acuna, a Deaf student at the University of Arizona cherishes her experience at Miles Exploratory Learning Center, a public school in Tucson.
“I was nervous to attend a hearing school. But my mom said, ‘They have an interpreter and they have Deaf people who can sign with you as well.’ I was nervous but once I went, I fell in love with it. My teacher was hearing but was a very skilled signer,” Acuna said in ASL.
Acuna is majoring in Early Childhood Education and is an ASL tutor at Pima Community College. She’s unsure what age group she would like to teach, however, she is leaning toward K-3.
“They are so cute and are always excited to learn and ask questions,” she said.
Acuna hopes she can share her language of ASL with both hearing and Deaf students, as she feels it’s important for students to socialize.
“I understand that not everyone may share my viewpoint, but in my opinion, I realized (integrated schools) are important to develop social skills for the future,” Acuna said. “You can’t socialize exclusively with Deaf groups or exclusively interact with people who use sign language. How will you progress in life if you’re not open-minded to experience more? People want to learn ASL and connect.”
She recognizes that her experiences may not reflect those of other deaf students. However, she feels improvement in access to education for deaf students can improve understanding between the hearing and Deaf worlds.
From student to leader in ASL
Regardless of whether students get residential, private, mainstream, or specialized education, it’s evident that access to language and Deaf culture stands out as the most crucial factor.
Reichman, like Kotsur and many other deaf people around the world, didn’t have access to sign language at an early age.
Growing up in rural Nebraska, Reichman was diagnosed with progressive hearing loss. By the age of 13 she had partial vision loss in her left eye due to a retina detachment. This led to difficulty fitting in and experiencing significant bullying. At 16, she enrolled in the Nebraska School for the Visually Handicapped.
“It was the best thing that could have happened to me,” Reichman said.
After some protest from her father — “women didn’t go to college back then,” Reichman said — she attended Gallaudet University, the only university in the world designed for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, where she first learned American Sign Language.
Her access to education and language allowed her to develop socially and emotionally. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1985.
Nowadays, Reichman uses cochlear implant technology, a small electronic device designed to give the user a sense of sound.
These devices are a point of conflict for many members of the Deaf community, however, the decision to use them is often a part of a personal and long thought-out journey.
Her reasoning was simple, “I wanted to date,” Reichman said. It wasn’t her only reason though, as she also missed the soft mellow rock of The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac, the soundtrack of her youth.
She had access to education that allowed her to thrive, and now as superintendent of ASDB, she wants to do the same for other students.
“This is my career,” Reichman said. “Taking the experience I’ve had and giving back.”
What’s next?
ASDB has been inviting members of the Arizona Legislature to visit the school, take a look around, and understand what they do. Sen. David Gowan, R-Sierra Vista, and Rep. David L. Cook, R-Globe, visited the school this past Halloween to meet the students.
“We gave them two little pumpkin bags to pass out candy to students who were all dressed up,” Reichman said. “I think it was good for them to visit our campus and see what we do.”
SB 1001, which has complete support from the Democratic caucus, aims to extend ASDB’s funding to the full 10 years. The bill will be the first of the 2024 session to be filed.
“I strongly encourage anyone who has felt the impacts or whose community has been affected by this choice to call your representative and senator and tell them to vote yes on Senate Bill 1001,” Sundareshan said.
You can read the bill and comment using the Request To Speak tool. Request To Speak requires registration and there’s a step-by-step user manual at the link. You can look up your state senators and their contact information.
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