Advocates pursue law backing athletes with disabilities
Wednesday, July 23, 2008 -
In two separate Capitol Hill briefings Tuesday, advocates spoke out on behalf of athletes with disabilities and their need for a Title IX-like law. Charlie Huebner, chief of Paralympics for the U.S. Olympic Committee, and Steve Bobadilla, a recent graduate of John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring, Md. who plays wheelchair tennis, had meetings with both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Preceding these briefings, the state of Maryland enacted the Fitness and Athletics Equity for Students with Disabilities Act last month, which requires schools to ensure that students with disabilities have equal access to physical education classes and athletics programs. It is the hopes of advocates that the Government Accountability Office will now perform a study to determine the state of scholastic participation opportunities for athletes with disabilities.