The California State University

                                  California State University, Northridge
                                  Department of Secondary and Adult Education
SAEP-Summer Academic Enrichment Program    18111 Nordhoff Street - EDUC
(818) 885-3333                              P.O. Box 1277
                                   Northridge, California 91328-1277
August 5, 1993                (818) 885-2586

Congressman Howard Berman
14600 Roscoe Blvd., Suite 506
Panorama City, California 91402

Dear Howard:

I talked to Margaret Mott about a problem we had in our Summer
Academic Enrichment Program involving the Disabilities Act.  For the
first time in 15 years of our operation, we were asked to enroll
two deaf high school students. Although we were very pleased to
have them in our program, we were also asked to furnish and pay for
their interpreter(s). SAEP is a private school sponsored by the
Department of Secondary Education run through the CSUN Foundation.

As you know, CSUN has an outstanding Deaf Studies program for
college-age deaf students, but the Secondary Education Department
does not pay for the interpreters for these students. I have had
these students in my classes. There is a National Center on
Deafness at CSUN, headed by Dr. Herb Larson.

We checked with the CSUN attorney on campus, Earl Weiss, who said
we are legally obligated to pay for their interpreter, who could
cost from $12.50 to $40.00 per hour. The going rate at CSUN is
$25.00 per hour.

Our SAEP students attend class for four hours per day for four
weeks. Parents pay $300. Potentially, we could be paying the
interpreter $2000 and receiving only $300 less expenses (about
20%). Carrying these figures out, if we had 10, 20, or 50 deaf high
school students (which is a possibility next year), SAEP could not
survive.

We're sure the supporters and writers of the Disability Act did not
have this in mind when they promoted the bill. I was a strong
advocate for the legislation, with petitions and letters being sent
to Washington.

Whatever you can do to help clarify this problem as quickly as
possible would be appreciated. We're going to make it this year,
but just recently we received a call from a parent whose child goes
to the Riverside School for the Deaf and wants to attend our summer
school next year. When word gets out that we had deaf students in
our program this summer, we could be inundated next summer, running
at a financial loss.
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I missed you in Washington, D.C. on June 26, but I did invite your
staff to the reception in the Canon Caucus Room hosted by the
Center for civic Education in Calabassas (I spoke with Max, who
happens to have the same name as my newest grandchild).


With best wishes,



Bidna, Ed.D.
Professor of Education &
Co-Director, Summer Academic Enrichment Program



cc:  Congressman Beilenson
     Earl Weiss, Special Assistant to CSUN President
     Dr. James Cunningham, Chairman, Secondary and Adult Education
     Dean Carolyn Ellner, School of Education































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