As diverse members of the broader Deaf community and its network of supporters, we must take a stand on the following topic.

In February and early March 2021, the school committees of sixteen towns in MetroWest Boston voted to terminate the EDCO Collaborative, and with it, the venerable EDCO Program for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, founded in 1973.

Each of the school committees involved points to debt and fiscal mismanagement as the reasons for termination. However, these school committees do not seem to recognize that fiscal mismanagement at the top of an organization—for which they are responsible—should not result in the loss of excellent programs for children.  We believe that children, particularly those of underprivileged minority groups, should not bear the brunt of such negligence.

Furthermore as this decision was processed, the Deaf community did not have language access to any of the EDCO Board or school committee meetings: There was no Deaf community member on the EDCO Board, no appointed liaison to the Deaf community, and no ASL interpreters at meetings across sixteen districts. Closed captioning, though poor, was not even enabled on Zoom. This ‘oversight’ in providing access is a clear injustice in the public process. It is driven, at its core, by Audism, a form of discrimination against Deaf people. 

Through this process, without context or contact with the Deaf community, the sixteen school committees (around 100 individuals) made decisions based solely on the price of public education, not on its value. If it were not for the rapid response from the Deaf community, the school committees would have terminated all of the EDCO programs--without a whisper. 

We are signing below to report and record this egregious injustice.

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*If you wish to make a financial donation, please donate to the EveryBody Signs GoFundMe campaign https://gofund.me/e8adade2 , rather than via Change.org  

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