Arizona Governor Jan Brewer appointed five new members to the ASDB Board of Directors amid what she characterized a “firestorm.” That firestorm is generated by a conflict of interest claim against former ASDB board president, Bernhardt Jones and ASDB Superintendent Robert Hill, as well as the disciplinary action taken against the school’s principal, Nancy Amann.
Insiders say that lost in the controversy is the exploitation of deaf students by ASDB staff and administrators who support the radical deaf culture. As a result of their exploitation by adults, who are portraying them as victims of the hearing world, students are now being contacted from across the world including by pro-Palestinian in support of their “oppression.”
Educators say that they real oppression, if any, is that of the students who are blind or have some other sensory challenge. They say that is what the fight was really about in the first place, and while they do not support Hill, they are concerned that his apparent conflict hides the real conflict within the walls of ASDB.
Educators from ASDB and outside the District have noted the growing rejection of outside culture among the schools’ deaf population, and describe students who now “hate” the hearing.
Cathy Young, writing for Reason.com, described that Deaf Culture; “Deaf culture” — that’s Deaf with a capital D — is a radical movement that views deafness not as a disability but as an oppressed minority status akin to race, and also as a unique linguistic culture.”
“The majority of deaf people do not belong to Deaf culture. It is estimated that at most a quarter of profoundly deaf people in the United States use sign language,” Young writes. “Yet at many schools for the deaf, signing has been dogmatically treated as the only acceptable communication; children with some hearing have received little training in auditory and speaking skills. Deaf schools that promote “oralism” have been targeted for protests.”
Deaf Culture rejects attempts to correct hearing impairment such as cochlear implants, and oppose any research into cures for deafness through gene therapy and other means, according to Young.
The students being drawn into the Deaf Culture at ASDB are finding it harder and harder to live with their classmates who have other challenges and are rejecting any teachers and staff who are not part of their culture. This makes it especially hard for blind students and their teachers, who watch on as they are denied services and attention they deserve.
They have hope that the replacements on the Board will move the attention away from Hill and Jones to a situation that has grown progressively worse over the years, to which Amann has contributed.
The Governor, who rarely sees the bigger picture, missed it again in her statement she issued to announce the new appointments. “The Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and Blind fulfills a critical mission by educating students with unique and specialized needs. So, it has been troubling to see allegations of mismanagement made against ASDB and its leaders.”
The Governor claimed she is giving “the institution the ‘fresh start’ it needs.”
Still some are skeptical of new Board members including Dr. Kathy Jankowski, former Dean, Laurent Clerk National Deaf Education Center, at Gallaudet University. Galludet has been the driving force behind the radicalization of students in the Deaf Culture.
While at the university, Jankowski wrote, Deaf Empowerment, which examined “ the struggle between the dominant hearing society and Deaf people over the best means of communication, with the educational setting as the constant battleground.
The book, “tracks the history of interaction between these two factions, highlighting the speaking majority’s desire to compel Deaf people to conform to “the human sciences” conventionality by learning speech,” according to a GUPress review. “Then, it sharply focuses on the development of the Deaf social movement’s ideology to seek general recognition of sign language as a valid cultural variation. Also, the influence of social movements of the 60s and 70s is examined in relation to the changing context and perception of the Deaf movement, as well as to its rhetorical refinement.
The review concludes “Deaf Empowerment delineates the apex of effective Deaf rhetoric in describing the success of the Deaf President Now! protest at Gallaudet University in 1988, its aftermath, and ensuing strategies. It concludes with an assessment of the goal of a multicultural society and offers suggestions for community building through a new humanitarianism. Scholars of social movements and Deaf studies will find it to be a uniquely provocative addition to their libraries and classrooms.”
The Governor also named Taralynn Petrites: Lead Facult member in American Sign Language and Interpreter Training, at Pima Community College. Elaine Baldridge: former Director of Children’s Services for the Foundation for Blind Children. Michael Gordon, Executive Director of the Southern Arizona Association for the Visually Impaired, and Dr. Mark Syms with the Arizona Ear Center.
The three holdover appointments include Sherri Collins who represents the Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing; Orlenda Roberts who acts as the Board’s school district employee who works with sensory-impaired pupils; and Michael Williams, who serves as a public member.