Reporters interested in leveraging the extensive disability rights expertise of our attorneys, advocates, or policy specialists are encouraged to contact our Communications Department at (512) 407-2739 or commdir@DRTx.org to schedule an interview at least 24 hours in advance. Please include your deadline for speaking with our staff in your voice mail or email.
Take a few minutes to learn about reporting on and writing about disability issues. For instance, statements like “people with disabilities” and “uses a wheelchair” are preferred instead of “the disabled” or “wheelchair bound.” For more information, see Communicating About People with Disabilities from the National Disability Rights Network and How to Report with Care On Disability from the New York Times.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 27, 2020 CONTACT: Edie Surtees, Disability Rights Texas Communications Director 512-407-2739 esurtees@drtx.org Texas Emergency Information Not in Compliance with the ADA Letter to Texas Governor and… Continue reading “People with Disabilities at Risk During Emergency Due to Non-Compliant Communication”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 14, 2020 PRESS CONTACT: Edie Surtees, Disability Rights Texas Communications Director 512-407-2739 esurtees@drtx.org UPDATE AS OF 3/23/2020: We have extended our emergency operational procedures explained below… Continue reading “DRTx Services Continue During Outbreak, Offices Closed to the Public”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 19, 2019 CONTACT: Edie Surtees, Disability Rights Texas Communications Director 512-407-2739 esurtees@drtx.org Ike Evans, HOGG Foundation for Mental Health Public Affairs Representativei 512-471-4804 or 512-293-4265 Imani.evans@austin.utexas.edu… Continue reading “Disability Rights Texas Receives Census Grant from HOGG Foundation”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 15, 2019 CONTACT: Edie Surtees Communications Director 512.407.2739 esurtees@DRTx.org Disability Advocacy Agency Announces New Board Officers, Members AUSTIN—Disability Rights Texas (DRTx), the legal protection and advocacy… Continue reading “New Board Members for 2020”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 15, 2019 CONTACT: Molly Broadway, Voting Rights Training Specialist Disability Rights Texas 512-407-2725 mbroadway@drtx.org Mark Cundall, Organizer REV UP Texas 602-818-3752 mcundall8@gmail.com July 16th Press Conference… Continue reading “Texans with Disabilities Organize to Increase Voting Participation”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 1, 2019 CONTACT: Edie Surtees, Communications Director Direct Line: 512.407.2739 Email: esurtees@drtx.org Children Routinely Denied Education Services During Hospitalization AUSTIN—In an investigative report released today, Disability Rights… Continue reading “How Texas Schools Are Failing Students with Mental Illness”
For Immediate Release: March 27, 2019 Contact: Edie Surtees Communications Director Direct Line: 512.407.2739 Email: esurtees@DRTx.org Advocates Call for Action, Not Promises AUSTIN—Every year the Texas Education Agency (TEA) must… Continue reading “TEA Funding App Reveals More Compliance Failures”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 15, 2018 CONTACT Edie Surtees, Communications Director 512.407.2739 esurtees@DRTx.org AUSTIN—Disability Rights Texas (DRTx) welcomes the following new members to its Protection and Advocacy for Individual with Mental… Continue reading “New Texas Mental Illness Advocacy Council Members Selected for 2019”
Disability Rights Texas (DRTx), the legal protection and advocacy agency for people with disabilities in Texas, has elected new officers and appointed new members to its board of directors for fiscal year 2019. New Board Officers include Tresi Weeks, Chair; Jessica Toste, Vice Chair; Brook Roberts, Secretary; and Joseph Muniz, Immediate Past Chair. New to the Board are Brandon Duke of Houston, Mary Keller Alexander of Valley View (in North Texas), Karen Hale of Austin, and Amanda Lee Storer of Tyler. Board members continuing to serve are Richard Anderson of Austin, Michael Cichowicz of Tyler, Anna Gray of San Antonio, Bola Oyeleye of Houston, Christian Salas of El Paso, Todd Whitaker of Lubbock, and Stephania Williams of Killeen. Continue reading “Disability Rights Texas Selects New Board Members, Officers for 2019”
The U.S. Department of Education decision that the TEA had short changed students with disabilities in state aid in the 2011-2012 school year is not an isolated violation of federal law. In a review of the state’s most recent application for a federal special education grant, Disability Rights Texas has uncovered that TEA budget officials acknowledge that under the U.S. Department of Education standard for state special education outlays, Texas did not spend at the appropriate rate on students with disabilities in the 2016-2017 school year. Continue reading “Texas in Violation of Federal Education Law for Second Time, Likely a Third”