Supporters of the proposed bill say that it is needed because the state board's actions in December did not go far enough.
"This bill puts the money where the mouth is," said Lauren Young, director of litigation at the Maryland Disability Law Center. "It says, `Deliver the programs.'"
As she awaited her turn to testify, McFadden said she knows what it is like to be denied a chance to play.
"It didn't feel so good," she said. "You are not appreciated. People should not have to go through this."
She later told the Senate committee about being excluded from the track team her freshman year of high school.
"Imagine my shock and sadness when I was told that I could not have a uniform and could not be on the team," she said. "I did not understand."
McFadden was born with spina bifida. In 2004, she won two medals in track at the Paralympics in Athens, Greece.
Wins court order
Two years later, as a sophomore at Atholton High in Howard County, she obtained a federal court order to let her take part in the same races as her fellow students.
Her mother, Deborah, said she is pleased with how Howard County schools have worked with students with disabilities.
"They get it," she said. "Unfortunately that doesn't relate to the rest of the state."
Tatyana McFadden, who said she is weighing athletic scholarship offers to Division I colleges, said she will continue to fight so that all students with disabilities have the same access to athletics that she now has.
She said she wants a better athletic experience for younger students with disabilities, especially for her sister, Hannah, 12, who has a prosthetic leg.
"My sister can now try out for tennis, or play volleyball or track," she said.
john-john.williams@baltsun.com
