BILL NUMBER: ACR 162	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Beall
   (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Huffman)
   (Coauthor: Senator Hancock)

                        APRIL 19, 2010

   Relative to Disability History Week.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 162, as introduced, Beall. Disability History Week.
   This measure would designate the second week of October 2010, and
annually thereafter, as Disability History Week, and would encourage
public and private institutions of higher education, state and local
agencies, nonprofit and community-based organizations, and private
businesses and corporations to observe Disability History Week by
dedicating appropriate classroom instructional time or by
coordinating all-inclusive activities to be conducted during that
week to afford opportunities for students and the general public to
learn more about the disability community and to celebrate and honor
its role in contemporary American society.
   Fiscal committee: no.



   WHEREAS, People with disabilities are currently the largest
minority group in the United States with a population of over 54
million, including 6 million individuals who live in California; and
   WHEREAS, California has more than 678,105 public school students
enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12 who have some type of
disability; and
   WHEREAS, During most of American history, people with physical,
psychiatric, sensory, and intellectual disabilities were subjected to
a shameful legacy of blatant discrimination and mistreatment by
society, including the denial of access to medical and psychological
care, forced segregation in institutions without opportunities to be
reintegrated back into their communities or to live independently,
involuntary sterilization, and the denial of equal opportunity in
education, housing, and employment; and
   WHEREAS, Most Californians and other Americans are unaware of the
significant historic contributions that people with disabilities have
made, and are continuing to make today, for the benefit of our
nation and the State of California; and
   WHEREAS, Many students and other people with disabilities do not
have an understanding about their history, including the pioneering
efforts that began in the late 1800s to the mid-1900s to enlighten
society about humane treatment of people with disabilities, or the
emergence of the disability rights movement that began in the 1970s
to fight for the civil rights of and equal opportunities for people
with disabilities; and
   WHEREAS, Ed Roberts, a former director of the California
Department of Rehabilitation, was one of the primary founders of the
national disability rights and independent living movements that
began in Berkeley, California. In 1972, his leadership and advocacy
led to the establishment of the first independent living center in
the nation. Since that time, California has been acknowledged
nationwide as a leader on issues affecting people with disabilities
and the Center for Independent Living model has been replicated
worldwide. Ed Roberts convinced the University of California at
Berkeley to establish a Disability Studies Minor and to establish a
Disability Oral History Museum. The efforts of Ed Roberts and his
peers deserve special recognition because the disability rights
movement will have an everlasting impact on the United States; and
   WHEREAS, The early efforts of the activists in the disability
rights movement laid the foundation for future federal and state
laws. The disability community has successfully mobilized over the
years to enact federal laws to give people with disabilities
important civil rights protection. The laws combated forced
exclusion, including segregation of people with disabilities in
nursing facilities and state institutions, and gave them access to
programs and services to acquire the independent living skills and
receive the supports necessary to live in their own homes or other
community living settings. In 1973, Section 504 was added to the
federal Rehabilitation Act to prohibit discrimination based on
disability by federally funded employers and other entities, and the
Federal-Aid Highways Act included funding for sidewalk curb cuts. In
1976, Congress amended the Higher Education Act of 1972 to guarantee
equal educational opportunities for physically disabled students; and

   WHEREAS, The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
requires all public schools to address the needs of pupils with
disabilities and develop Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) which
reflect the specific needs of each pupil. Increasing teachers,
pupils, and administrators understanding of the issues confronting
the disability community will enhance the quality and relevance of
IEPs, and will expand opportunities for pupils with disabilities; and

   WHEREAS, Civil protest actions were an integral part of the
disability rights movement in California. In 1977, disability
community activists took over the federal Health, Education, and
Welfare building in San Francisco to publicize the inaction on the
implementation of the administrative regulations for Section 504 of
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It was the largest organized sit-in
of a federal building in history. These actions led to the adoption
of the Section 504 regulations, which have had a tremendous impact in
requiring buildings and facilities to be made accessible; and
   WHEREAS, These early advocacy campaigns continued throughout the
1970s and 1980s and led to the enactment of other major federal laws
including, but not limited to, the Developmentally Disabled
Assistance and Bill of Rights Act, the Education for All Handicapped
Children Act, the Fair Housing Amendments Act, and the Voting
Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act. They also
convinced Congress to enact the omnibus Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990; and
   WHEREAS, California has been a leader in furthering disability
rights with enactment of such pioneering legislation as the Disabled
Persons Act, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, the Fair Employment and
Housing Act, Section 11135 of the Government Code, the
Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, and the Lanterman Developmental
Disabilities Services Act; and
   WHEREAS, California has continued its role as a national leader on
disability civil rights issues. The first annual Youth Leadership
Forum for Students with Disabilities (YLF) was founded in California
in 1991 to give youth with disabilities leadership skills and to
teach them about the history and culture of the disability community.
The YLF program has become a model program for disabled youth and
has been adopted in 35 other states. The critical need for a
Disability History Week is illustrated by the fact that YLF
participants have consistently questioned why the history of people
with disabilities and the disability rights movement is not taught to
all pupils in their schools. They represent the needs of the larger
disabled pupil population throughout the state that also craves that
type of instruction. Unfortunately, only 60 out of a pool of hundreds
of YLF applicants each year can be accepted into YLF even though
there are thousands of others who would benefit from learning more
about their history and culture; and
   WHEREAS, Even today, long after enactment of state and federal
laws recognizing the civil rights of people with disabilities,
discrimination and exclusion continue. Thus, two decades after the
enactment of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, the vast
majority of publicly and privately owned buildings and facilities
remain physically inaccessible, and more than two decades after the
enactment of the federal Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, which
prohibits discrimination in housing based on disability, the
unavailability of accessible housing remains a major barrier to full
community inclusion of people with disabilities; and
   WHEREAS, Disability history should also examine the United States
Supreme Court's landmark opinion in Olmstead v. L.C. ex rel. Zimring
(1999) 527 U.S. 581. In that case, the court ruled that unnecessary
segregation and institutionalization of people with disabilities is a
form of discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The Olmstead case is important because it requires states to provide
services to people with disabilities in integrated, community-based
settings; and
   WHEREAS, Teaching all students about disability history will
promote a greater understanding between those with and without
disabilities and will lead to increased opportunities for interaction
between students in special education and the general student
population. This integration will help form new relationships between
students with and without disabilities to promote a common awareness
and understanding of current disability issues. In addition,
disability history instruction can help motivate students to follow
the lead of prior disability rights activists; and
   WHEREAS, Knowledge about disability history can also help promote
an understanding of the importance of providing opportunities to
people with disabilities to develop and apply independent living
skills that are critical to personal success in society. If
individuals with and without disabilities learn more about the
struggle of the disability community, there will be a greater
willingness to accommodate everyone's needs. Society will then better
appreciate the value to the entire community of including people
with disabilities in all aspects of community life; and
   WHEREAS, Universal knowledge about disability history will enhance
the recognition that employing people with disabilities benefits
businesses, employees, and the community; and
   WHEREAS, The history of the disability community's civil rights
movement will further expand public awareness about all types of
disabilities, including those that are both apparent and nonapparent.
Paving the way for a better informed society will greatly benefit
all people with disabilities by helping them to use education as a
tool to reduce misunderstanding that leads to stigmatization, hate
crimes, and discrimination; and
   WHEREAS, Every person with a disability is entitled to feel a
sense of pride about the history of the disability community, about
their role in their local community, and about themselves as
individuals with a disability. As people with and without
disabilities learn more about the history of disability, all
Californians will have a closer connection to the disability
community, which will ultimately contribute to a greater appreciation
of diversity in our state; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature declares the second week of
October 2010, and annually thereafter, to be Disability History Week;
and be it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature declares that the observance of an
annual Disability History Week is timely and necessary, and
encourages each school district, each community college district,
each city and county, public and private institutions of higher
education, state and local agencies, nonprofit and community-based
organizations, and private businesses and corporations to observe
Disability History Week by dedicating appropriate classroom
instructional time or by coordinating all-inclusive activities to be
conducted during that week to afford opportunities for students and
the general public to learn more about the disability community and
to celebrate and honor its role in contemporary American society; and
be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the Governor, the Speaker of the Assembly, the
Secretary of the Senate, the Superintendent of Public Schools, the
President of the Board of Regents of the University of California,
the President of the Board of Trustees of the California State
University, the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the
Secretary of the Health and Welfare Agency, the Director of
Rehabilitation, the Director of Mental Health, the Executive Director
of the State Independent Living Council, the Executive Director of
the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, and to the author
for appropriate distribution.