272,000 Kids will be Affected

So often in our lives, we only care about what is happening in our own lives. I get that. We are all human.

We advocate and pay attention to the things that affect us. Our day-to-day lives.

I’m guilty of it too.

But yesterday, something was proposed that was wrong. And I don’t mean a little bit wrong. I mean a lot wrong.

So wrong, that I honestly can’t believe that it is even a possibility.

And if you know me, you know I don’t get political very often. Mostly, because I stay in my own lane.

But…

The budget proposed by President Trump and supported by DeVos calls for nearly $18 million in cuts to the Special Olympics, a 26 percent reduction to state grants for special education and millions of dollars in cuts to programs for students who are blind.

As I watched the congressional subcommittee hearing yesterday, something else stuck out to me.

These kids are just numbers. They are dollars.

And then Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., a member of the House Appropriations subcommittee, changed that. He made it about our kids and our neighbors. He put faces to it.

He asked DeVos if she knew how many children would be affected by cutting Special Olympics funding. A pretty simple question one would think.

I mean these are people. Kids. Teens. Adults.

Not just numbers.

DeVos said she did not know.

Pocan responded: “I’ll answer it for you, that’s OK, no problem. It’s 272,000 kids that are affected.”

After referring to his own nephews with autism, Pocan asked DeVos, “What is it that we have a problem with, with children who are in special education?”

She replied, “Supporting children with special needs, we have continued to hold that funding at a level amount and in the context of a budget proposal that is a 10 percent reduction.”

The congressman stopped DeVos and claimed she was not answering his question.

Which again, doesn’t surprise me.

Thank you Rep. Pocan for asking these questions. Because honestly, this mother has been wondering for a long time why people have a problem with kids with special needs.

Is it my son’s diagnosis that bothers them? His needs? Or just because he’s him.

I know this may not affect you. You may not know anyone in your life that may ever compete in the special Olympics. I may not either.

But you surely know someone who uses special education services. Or has at one time.

This is wrong.

And we all need to be aware of it.

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