The commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration during the
Clinton years, Frederic K. Schroeder, is charging that the Hadley School
for the Blind didn't pick him as president because he is blind even
though the school's immediate past president for nearly 20 years was
blind.  it should be noted that the concept of disability discrimination
is not new to Fred Schroeder.  He repeatedly failed to provide blind
persons with documents in alternative formats, such as on cassette in
Braille or electronically.  it got so bad that in a highly publicized
event leaders of the National Council on Independent Living walked out of
a high level meeting with Fred and RSA staff because of Fred's inability
to ensure equal and non-discriminatory participation of blind persons by
providing requested documents in alternative formats in advance.

Kelly

The Chicago Tribune

Blind man alleges bias at school for blind --------------------

By Matt O'Connor Tribune staff reporter

February 5, 2002

A blind educator with state and national experience has alleged in a
federal lawsuit that the Hadley School for the Blind in Winnetka
discriminated against him because he was not interviewed to be its
president and a person of sight was hired.

The plaintiff, Frederic K. Schroeder, who formerly ran the U.S.
Department of Education agency that funds job training for the disabled,
said Monday that he finds it sadly ironic that a school for the blind
wouldn't interview a blind man with his credentials.

"It is difficult for me to understand how that could occur without the
possibility of discrimination having taken place," said Schroeder, 44,
who before his U.S. post headed the New Mexico Commission for the Blind,
a job-training program, and administered programs for blind children in
the Albuquerque Public Schools.

"You would hope that a school for the blind would understand the
abilities of blind people more so than the ordinary employer," he said.
"That's part of the real disappointment here."

The suit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court, alleges the school
violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Michael J. Bina, who took over as the school's president in July after
13 years as superintendent for the Indiana School for the Blind, had not
seen the lawsuit and declined to comment Monday on its allegations.

But Bina defended Hadley's "proud history" and its "commitment to our
blind and visually impaired students and our employment practices."

In a telephone interview, Schroeder was careful not to criticize the
selection of Bina but questioned why someone with his own experience in
education wouldn't have warranted a closer look.

Schroeder said he was contacted in late 2000 by an executive search firm
working on the impending opening at Hadley, which calls itself the
world's largest educator of blind and visually impaired people.

Schroeder said he decided to apply after he learned the school was
seeking a blind person to fill the job.

The suit alleged Schroeder wasn't hired because he is blind. Bina's
predecessor, Robert Winn, head of the school for nearly two decades, was
blind.