125th Morrison Congress

2nd Session

H.R. 125-006

Title of the Bill: Handicap Education Program Act

Main Author(s): Rep. Tiffany Chen (R-WA), Rep. Allyson Edwards (R-MO)

Co-Sponsor(s): Sen. McGwire Portell (R-TN)

BE IT ENACTED BY THE MORRISON CONGRESS

1 SECTION 1: Findings
2 Congress makes the following findings:
3 1) In 2016, only 17.9% of persons with a disability were employed in the U.S.
4 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
5 2) The unemployment rate for persons with a disability is 10.5%, which is over
6 two time higher than the rate for those without disabilities.
7 3) For those who have obtained an education, the unemployment rates for
8 persons with a disability were higher than those for persons without a
9 disability in 2016.
10 4) Persons with a disability are less likely to have completed a bachelor's
11 degree or higher than those with no disability. Among both groups, those who
12 had attained higher levels of education were more likely to be employed than
those with less education. Across all levels of education in 2016, persons
13
with a disability were much less likely to be employed than were their
14
counterparts with no disability. - Bureau of Labor Statistics
15
5) The jobless rate for those with a disability was higher for Blacks (16.6
16 percent) than for Hispanics (12.5 percent), Asians (10.7 percent), and Whites
17 (9.5 percent). - Bureau of Labor Statistics
18 6) Nearly one in five people have a disability in the United states according to
19 the United States Census Bureau.
20
21 SECTION 2: Purpose
22 To provide funding for vocational education programs for handicapped individuals in
23 public schools.
24
25 SECTION 3: General Provisions
26 This authorizes the Department of Education to set aside funding to support
27 vocational education programs in public schools for students that have handicaps in
28 those schools. The Department of Education will work with individual states to
29 develop programs that best suit their needs. The vocational programs developed will
30 give handicapped individuals competitive employment opportunities. This funding will
31 be applied to all schools thats vocational education programs have been applied for
32 and meet the requirements provided below.
33
34 These programs will need to meet the following requirements to receive funding:
35 1) They are placed to train people with handicaps only.
36 2) They must have programs that are applied to and approved by both the
37 school board and the state.
38 3) They must be vocationally focused and teach practical skills.
39 4) These programs must be taught by an academically qualified and
experienced individual in the field of the teaching of special needs students.
40
5) The curriculum should be approved by the school board and the schools
 41 State Department of Education.
42 6) The programs must be offered on school days and during school hours.
43 7) The program must provide internship opportunities with local businesses and
44 companies or government agencies.
45
46 SECTION 4: Definitions
47 Handicapped individual: mentally retarded, hard of hearing, deaf, speech impaired,
48 visually handicapped, seriously emotionally disturbed, orthopedically impaired, or
49 other health impaired persons, or persons with specific learning disabilities
50
51 Unemployed persons: person who did not have a job, were available for work, and
52 were actively looking for a job.
53
Academically qualified: a person who holds a special education teaching license in
54
the state where the school is located.
55
56
57
58

Works Cited:
https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/miscellaneous/cb12-134.html
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/disabl.nr0.htm
https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2017/unemployment-rate-of-people-with-a-disability-10-point-5-
percent-in-2016.htm