WILL,GARDNER CLASH ON HANDICAP VIEWS - GROUPS REQUEST GARDNER RESIGN - Vol.13 No.76

Sep 28, 2026

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Report analyzes a clash over U.S. disability education policy as Madeleine Will, assistant secretary at the Department of Education, distances herself from Eileen Gardner’s handicap-related views. Disability organizations demand Gardner’s resignation, while Senate hearings led by Lowell Weicker scrutinize funding decisions. The document also covers questioning of broader education budget requests, including vocational and adult education plans and proposed cuts affecting the National Technical Institute for the Deaf.

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WILL,GARDNER CLASH ON HANDICAP VIEWS;GROUPS REQUEST GARDNER RESIGN

VOC ED,NTID BUDGET REQUESTS SCRUTINIZED

THREATENED COLLEGE PROGRAMS FOR DISADVANTAGED SAID TO DESERVE MORE

Vol.13,No.76 Thursday,April 18,1985 WILL,GARDNER CLASH ON HANDICAP VIEWS;GROUPS REQUEST GARDNER RESIGN The Education Department's top administrator for handicap policy yesterdayseparated herself from the views of a high-level ED adviser whom disabilityrights advocates yesterday asked President Reagan to remove. Madeleine Will,assistant secretary for ED's Office of Special Education andRehabilitative Services,told the Senate education appropriations subcommittee,"I don't agree with those personal views"of Eileen Gardner,a member of Educa-tion Secretary William Bennett's newly created Office of Educational Philosophyand Practice. At a hearing Tuesday,subcommittee Chairman Lowell Weicker,R-Conn.,assalledBennett for hiring Gardner,who has written that federal services for hand1-capped children "have been purchased at the expense of academically talentedstudents"(HED,April 17). Groups Seek Resignation A dozen national disability organizations,headedby the Disability Rights Education and Defene Fund,yesterday sent Reagan atwo-page letter asking for Gardner's resignation."Ms.Gardner says there isno injustice in the universe,that we have somehow earned our disabilities andthat those of us who seek equal opportunities are'ineffective malcontents.'This belief is an outrage and an insult to the fundamental principles of Ameri-can democracy,"the letter reads. "I live in a part of the universe,senator,where the central purpose of indi-viduals'lives is to help the handicapped,"Will said at a hearing of the Sen-ate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor,Health and Human Services and Educa-tion."I feel very comfortable with these people." Weicker praised Will,saying "You're a good soul."But he added,"I don't knowhow you're going to live with the creeps we saw before." The senator was referring to Gardner and Lawrence Uzzell,whom the senator sum-moned to the same hearing to explain their controversial views on the federalrole in education. "There is a limited amount of money available for education programs and if 10times as much is spent for education of the handicapped per pupil,there arenine normal children for whom spending will be decreased,"Gardner told Weickeryesterday during a hearing attended by dozens of handicapped individuals. Gardner,who was a policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation before coming toED this week,said she questions"whether we as a society should make super-human efforts to bring every handicapped person up to the average or even toeducate every handicapped person to the limit of his or her potential." (more) April 18,1985 WILL,GARDNER CLASH ON HANDICAP VIEWS;GROUPS REQUEST GARDNER RESIGN(Cont.) Uzzell,who joined ED two weeks ago,is studying tuition tax credits and educa-tion vouchers.Yesterday he reaffirmed his belief that with the exception ofthe National Center for Education Statistics,"every federal elementary andsecondary education program,"including funds for educating the handicapped,should be eliminated(HED,April 11). In a statement released by ED after yesterday's hearing,Bennett said,"We mustmake every effort to ensure that all Americans be given the opportunity to re-ceive quality education regardless of his or her…handicap."He saidUzzell's comments regarding elimination of handicapped programs"do not in anyway reflect the views of this administration or the secretary of education." Bennett said,"President Reagan and I are fully committed to supporting …theEducation of the Handicapped Act,and as secretary of education I intend to ag-gressively enforce these regulations."The secretary yesterday did not commenton the request for Gardner's resignation.--Robin Wilson # VOC ED,NTID BUDGET REQUESTS SCRUTINIZED Fiscal 1986 budget requests for several ED programs came under the Senate edu-cation appropriations panel's scrutiny yesterday,and were met with demands forjustification by the panel's chairman. Sen.Lowell Weicker,R-Conn.,who chairs the Senate Labor,Health and Hu

FAQs

Why did disability organizations request Eileen Gardner’s resignation?

They objected to Gardner’s views that disability results from earned conditions and that people seeking equal opportunities are ineffective malcontents, calling it an insult to American democracy principles.

What position did Madeleine Will express during the Senate hearing?

Will said she did not agree with Gardner’s personal views, and she described feeling comfortable with people focused on helping handicapped individuals.

What issue did the Senate scrutinize regarding education budgets?

The Senate education appropriations panel questioned justifications for freezing or reducing education programs, including vocational and adult education requests and the NTID funding situation.

Sep 28, 2026

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