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People with disabilities protested in front of the U.S. Department of Education on Thursday of last week over proposed plans to cut programs. Dolores M. Bernal was there:

The Rehabilitation Services Administration is the agency in charged of
administering programs for the disabled and it's run by the Dept. of
Education. Advocates for the disabled have been told about plans by the Bush Administration to close 10 regional RSA offices, major staff cuts, and the elimination of the divisions for the deaf and blind. Joanne Wilson was the top person with a disability to serve under the
Bush administration. She was appointed in 2001 as the Commissioner for the RSA, but after seeing repeated cuts to programs for the disabled over the years, she resigned this past March in protest.

[WILSON]: "What will happen is that adults with disabilities
will not have specialized funds, specialized programs, specialized
personnel that will work with them, to get them back living
independently, going to work and living the American dream."

The Department of Education assistant secretary, John Hager, is
defending the cuts as a need for restructuring. Mr. Hager says that the people who will lose their jobs at regional RSA offices have the option of early retirement.

Dolores M. Bernal, WIN, Washington.