Doctor Ángel Ramos was the founder of the National Hispanic Council of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
Background
Ramos was born in New York City. As result, he and his sister were raised solely by his mother, who worked as a seamstress. He was able to hide his impairment from his mother for two years and from his school by following directions on the classroom blackboard and by reading his textbooks carefully.
Education
Ramos attended public school, leading a normal child"s life until 1959 when, while nine years old, he lost his hearing. Ramos later enrolled, attended, and graduated Manhattan College in 1971. By that time, he learned sign language and while 21 years old, he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics.
Career
He earn a doctorate from Gallaudet University. They lived in a poor apartment building, along with a number of relatives. By 1961, he had learned to lip-read and this helped him to get by elementary school all the way to high school.
Ramos then worked as a taxi driver until he was hired as a gym supervisor at a deaf school — with his only pay being room and board.
Eventually, he became a teacher at another local school for the deaf. Ramos applied and qualified for financial assistance from the Division of National Rehabilitation and then attended the State University of New York where he earned a Master of Science degree in Education of the Deaf.
He continued his academic education at California State University, earning a Master of Science Degree in Educational Administration. He then enrolled in the Gallaudet University in Washington, District of Columbia and earned a Doctorate in Special Education Administration.
Ramos held a teaching position at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas.
On August 1, 2001, Ramos was named, located in Gooding, Gooding. The school — with over 110 students in residence over 700 students through satellite centers in other parts of the state — is a state-supported public school for resident Idaho special education students whose primary handicap is a hearing impairment or visual impairment. On July 30, 2003, Ramos was put on administration leave.
This was due to an ongoing investigation by the State Board of Education of allegations that Ramos sold surplus property and that he had a conflict of interest in preferential hiring, and the appearance of retaliation against detractors.
Supporters of Ramos stated that he raised the bar of education in the school and in September 2003, a group of students demonstrated on the school lawn in support of Ramos, and tensions ran high inside the Gooding school. Ramos sued the State Board of Education because of the false allegations and resigned after receiving a $150,000 settlement.
In 2007, Doctor Ramos was the Superintendent of Sequoia School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing,a charter school in Arizona with two campuses — in Mesa and Phoenix. The then Governor of Arizona Janet Napolitano appointed Doctor Ramos as a commissioner on the Arizona Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
On July 30, 2011, Doctor Angel Ramos was appointed Superintendent of the Katzenbach New Jersey"s School for the Deaf.
He retired on June 30, 2015.