[Senate Hearing 114-287]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 114-287
S. 2304, S. 2468, S. 2580, AND S. 2711
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
ON
S. 2304, A BILL TO PROVIDE FOR TRIBAL DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS FOR THE
INTEGRATION OF EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT, EDUCATION, INCLUDING NATIVE
LANGUAGE AND CULTURE, AND RELATED SERVICES, FOR EVALUATION OF THOSE
DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
S. 2468, A BILL TO REQUIRE THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR TO CARRY OUT A
FIVE-YEAR DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM TO PROVIDE GRANTS TO ELIGIBLE INDIAN
TRIBES FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF TRIBAL SCHOOLS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
S. 2580, A BILL TO ESTABLISH THE INDIAN EDUCATION AGENCY TO STREAMLINE
THE ADMINISTRATION OF INDIAN EDUCATION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
S. 2711, A BILL TO EXPAND OPPORTUNITY FOR NATIVE AMERICAN CHILDREN
THROUGH ADDITIONAL OPTIONS IN EDUCATION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
__________
APRIL 6, 2016
__________
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COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming, Chairman
JON TESTER, Montana, Vice Chairman
JOHN McCAIN, Arizona MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska TOM UDALL, New Mexico
JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota AL FRANKEN, Minnesota
JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
STEVE DAINES, Montana HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota
MIKE CRAPO, Idaho
JERRY MORAN, Kansas
T. Michael Andrews, Majority Staff Director and Chief Counsel
Anthony Walters, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Hearing held on April 6, 2016.................................... 1
Statement of Senator Barrasso.................................... 1
Statement of Senator Cantwell.................................... 48
Statement of Senator Daines...................................... 40
Statement of Senator Franken..................................... 6
Statement of Senator McCain...................................... 4
Statement of Senator Schatz...................................... 5
Prepared statement........................................... 6
Statement of Senator Tester...................................... 3
Witnesses
Boham, Sandra, Ed.D., President, Salish Kootenai College......... 29
Prepared statement........................................... 31
Begay, Hon. Carlyle W., Arizona State Senator, Legislative
District 7..................................................... 13
Prepared statement........................................... 15
Roberts, Lawrence S., Acting Assistant Secretary, Indian Affairs,
U.S. Department of the Interior................................ 7
Prepared statement........................................... 9
Whitefoot, Patricia, President, National Indian Education
Association.................................................... 17
Prepared statement........................................... 19
Appendix
Baker, Hon. Bill John, Principal Chief, Cherokee Nation, prepared
statement submitted to the House Interior Appropriations
Subcommittee--March 18, 2016................................... 51
Dine Bi'olta School Board Association, Inc. (DBOSBA), prepared
statement...................................................... 53
Letters of support submitted for the record
S. 2304, S. 2468, S. 2580, AND S. 2711
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2016
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Indian Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:20 p.m. in room
628, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. John Barrasso,
Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN BARRASSO,
U.S. SENATOR FROM WYOMING
The Chairman. Good afternoon. I call this hearing to order.
Before we get started, the Committee would like to
recognize the wonderful life of Joe Medicine Crow of the Crow
Nation who passed away at the age of 102. He was awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009, as well as numerous
honorary doctorate degrees.
I join Senators Tester and Daines of Montana and all of
Indian country in celebrating this true American hero.
Senator Tester.
Senator Tester. Yes, and I think Senator Daines has
something he would like to say after me. That would be fine
also. I am going to ask for a moment of silence for Dr. Joe
Medicine Crow in a second.
As the Chairman said, Joe received the Presidential Medal
of Freedom in 2009 from President Obama.
He lived a remarkable life and left an incredible legacy.
He was an incredible American and an incredible Native
American. He advocated for issues that impact every Native
American in this country.
He was a special man I had the opportunity to meet and was
continually impressed by his humbleness and his directness.
I think after Senator Daines has a word or two we will just
have a moment of silence for him.
The Chairman. Senator Daines.
Senator Daines. Thank you, Senator Tester.
We lost a treasure in Montana with Dr. Joe Medicine Crow.
He was a Chief and to be a Chief, going through that process,
is a very, very high standard. He was also a decorated World
War II veteran.
I echo Senator Tester's remarks in terms of his true
humility. It was an honor to meet Dr. Medicine Crow, Chief
Medicine Crow, on the Crow Reservation. He will be dearly
missed. Our condolences are with the family and the entire Crow
Nation.
Senator Tester. May we have a moment of silence for him,
please.
[Moment of silence.]
The Chairman. Thank you.
I saw the obituary in today's New York Times. Much has been
written about the Chief but it says, ``Joe Medicine Crow, 102,
Tribal War Chief.'' I will ask, without objection, to have
today's obituary from the New York Times included in the
record.
Senator Tester. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Today, the Committee is going to receive
testimony on four education bills. Senator Tester has
introduced two bills: S. 2304, the Tribal Early Childhood,
Education, and Related Integration Act of 2015 and S. 2468, the
Safe Academic Facilities and Environments for Tribal Youth Act.
Senate Bill 2304 establishes a demonstration program that
would provide funding for early childhood infrastructure and
workforce development. It would also expand certain benefits of
the Federal Stafford Loan Forgiveness for Teachers Program.
S. 2468 focuses on school construction needs for Indian
children.
I will turn to Senator Tester in a moment to explain the
bills.
Senator McCain has introduced S. 2711, the Native American
Education Opportunity Act. We will turn to Senator McCain as
well in a few seconds. This bill would allow students who
attend a Bureau of Indian Education school the option to attend
another school of their choice, using existing Federal dollars.
Finally, I have introduced S. 2580, the Reforming American
Indian Standards for Education Act of 2016, otherwise known as
the RAISE Act. Last May, the Committee held an oversight
hearing on the organizational challenges facing the Bureau of
Indian Education.
The BIE school system includes 183 elementary and secondary
schools and dormitories on 64 reservations in 23 States, with
an estimated 47,000 students. We have heard from the Government
Accountability report that the bureaucracy at the Department of
the Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs has created
administrative and staffing problems for these schools.
Some of the most important functions like school
construction, facility management, and budget planning do not
directly fall under the director of the Bureau of Indian
Education. Instead, the BIA manages these functions.
As many of my colleagues on this panel know, the BIA is
failing in that responsibility. In fact, just last month, the
GAO issued another eye-opening report on the safety and health
at Indian school facilities.
One disturbing statistic GAO uncovered is that 54 schools
have received no safety or health inspections during the past
four fiscal years. In addition, the Committee learned late last
week that the current BIE Director, who was scheduled to
testify today, has been removed from his position as a result
of a recent Inspectors General investigation.
If the BIA is not going to be accountable in ensuring a
child's school is safe to attend, then we must act. Simply put,
my bill would move all education-related responsibilities to a
new independent agency in the Department of the Interior.
The new Indian education agency would be headed by a
presidentially-appointed and Senate-confirmed director. It
would also create two new assistant directors who would oversee
education curriculum and facility management. This would
streamline decision-making process, reduce the bureaucracy, and
provide a more suitable structure than what currently exists.
There are many challenges to improving Indian education
beyond management. That is why I have introduced the RAISE Act
today. This bill is a start toward a more responsible and
responsive agency.
All of the bills before us today have a goal of creating a
better environment for Indian students, whether they are
attending a BIE-funded school, a public school, or a tribal
college or university. To that end, I look forward to our
witnesses' testimony.
Senator Tester, I know you have an opening statement. Then
I will turn to Senator McCain.
STATEMENT OF HON. JON TESTER,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MONTANA
Senator Tester. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I want to express my appreciation for you holding this
legislative hearing focusing on Indian education legislation
that is pending before this Committee, including two bills that
I have sponsored.
These two bills focus on two very important areas of Indian
education, early childhood education and education
infrastructure needs in Indian country. These bills are based
on input I have received from tribal leaders and Indian
education advocates and were composed with assistance from
national tribal organizations.
I am proud to submit for the record a number of letters of
support from Native education stakeholders for each of these
bills.
The first of my two bills, the Tribal Early Childhood,
Education, and Related Integration Act would create a
demonstration program at the Department of Health and Human
Services to coordinate tribal early childhood programs.
This demonstration would provide more local control over
those programs and would reduce government red tape. Similar to
other programs like NAHASDA and 477, this bill promotes tribal
sovereignty over education by allowing tribes to locally
determine their early childhood needs while maintaining
commonsense accountability and goal standard program
requirements.
To make sure these programs have the resources they need to
be successful, this bill would also create an authorization for
construction of tribal early childcare facilities and expand
support for early childhood educators by providing access to
more Federal student loan forgiveness programs.
The other bill, the Safe Academic Facilities and
Environments for Tribal Youth Act or the SAFETY Act, seeks to
address the enormous amount of needs school facilities have in
Indian country. It fulfills these needs with commonsense
measures and improving the living environments for Indian
students from kindergarten through higher education.
These school facility needs are well documented at the
Bureau of Indian Education. While I applaud the department for
releasing its new school replacement priority list yesterday,
we still need a solid, comprehensive plan to improve the entire
BIE system in a timely manner.
We cannot make another generation of Native students wait
for us to get our act together. That is why this bill would
mandate that the BIE and the OMB develop a ten year plan to
bring all BIE facilities to good condition. The bill also looks
to provide Federal support for teacher housing on reservations
and authorizes funding for tribal colleges and universities to
add more classrooms and community spaces.
Finally, given that we know over 90 percent of the Native
students in this country attend local public schools, I think
this Committee should have a better understanding of the
facility needs of the impact aid schools they attend. That is
why this legislation will require a report by the GAO to
examine the needs of those districts.
Before we begin, I would like to thank Dr. Boham for
appearing here today to testify. Dr. Boham is a fellow Montanan
and president of the Salish and Kootenai College in Pablo,
Montana.
While I know the loss of the former SKC President DePoe is
deeply felt. I am glad that Dr. Boham has taken up Dr. DePoe's
mantle in continuing the excellent progress SKC has achieved.
We have work to do to improve the state of Indian
education. Moving these measures forward is a step towards
fulfilling the promises and commitments that the Federal
Government has made to Native Americans.
I want to thank you again, Mr. Chairman, for calling this
hearing. I look forward to the testimony.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Tester.
Senator McCain?
STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN McCAIN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM ARIZONA
Senator McCain. Mr. Chairman, I am compelled to raise an
issue about a Committee field hearing scheduled for April 22,
2016 in Phoenix, Arizona concerning EPA's failing government-
to-government relationship with Indian tribes. The April 22
oversight hearing has a particular focus on the Gold King Mine
spill that devastated farmers and families on the Navajo
reservation in August. Believe me, this was devastating and
there is no doubt about the responsibility that rests with the
EPA.
Therefore, we have requested, as part of the hearing, Mr.
Chairman, that the EPA send a witness so that we can talk about
the reclamation and healing of the Native Navajo lands that
were absolutely devastated by this toxic spill. Three million
gallons of toxic wastewater were unleashed on the Navajo
reservation.
It is my understanding that the EPA has decided not to send
a representative to this field hearing. EPA's response is
unacceptable. It is a violation of our obligation to protect
the interest of Native Americans and their tribes. EPA must be
present at this hearing. I respectfully request the Committee
issue a subpoena for EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy to appear
at the field hearing scheduled for April 22, 2016 in Phoenix,
Arizona.
The Chairman. Senator McCain, you are correct. The EPA has
declined to send anyone to the field hearing. The field hearing
you referred to was requested by you on behalf of the Navajo
Nation as a top priority of this Committee.
This is not a partisan issue. It is a Native American
issue. I will work with you and others on this Committee to
issue a subpoena for Administrator Gina McCarthy to appear. She
is the one in charge at the EPA. The Senate has confirmed her
nomination with the understanding that the EPA would be
responsive to Congress. This is not being responsive.
Thank you, Senator McCain.
Are there other comments with regard to your bill that we
will be discussing today?
Senator McCain. No, Mr. Chairman.
I would like to point out again this toxic spill of three
million gallons of toxic wastewater, I have to be very blunt as
I have been known to do, suppose this had happened in a non-
Indian area? The representatives would have been up in arms.
This is a national scandal.
Instead, not only hasn't the issue been resolved, the
devastation is still there, but the EPA has not challenged the
fact that it was EPA that caused the spill, but does not even
want to send a representative to a hearing that needs to be
held on behalf of these Navajo families whose lands, livelihood
and lives have been devastated. Is that what the EPA is all
about? I hope not.
I would urge the support of all members of the Committee on
behalf of the Navajo Nation which has urgently asked that the
EPA be there because there is a lot more work to do to repair
the damage of three million gallons of toxic wastewater that
has been dumped onto their sacred lands.
I thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator McCain.
Are there other statements? Senator Schatz?
STATEMENT OF HON. BRIAN SCHATZ,
U.S. SENATOR FROM HAWAII
Senator Schatz. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I thank the Chair and the Vice Chairman for your work on
these issues. I wanted to say that among the most promising
best practices in Native education at every level are programs
that integrate Native language and cultural revitalization.
That is why I am such a strong supporter of S. 2304.
I am also a strong supporter of self determination and S.
2304 will empower Native Americans to make decisions most
beneficial to their communities in an educational context.
In the interest of time, I would like to submit a longer
statement for the record.
The Chairman. Without objection, so ruled.
[The prepared statement of Senator Schatz follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Brian Schatz,
U.S. Senator from Hawaii
First I'd like to thank Chairman Barrasso and Vice Chair Tester for
your leadership, and your work on key issues impacting native
communities.
Among the most promising best practices in native education--at
every level from early childhood to university--are programs that
integrate Native language and culture revitalization. That is why I am
a strong supporter of S. 2304, the Tribal Early Childhood, Education,
and Related Services Integration Act, aimed at improving the quality of
early childhood development opportunities in native communities. I am
also a strong supporter of self-determination and S. 2304 will empower
Native American tribes and educators to make decisions most beneficial
to their communities. I look forward to the testimony from the witness
panel today.
Over the past three decades, the Native Hawaiian community has
developed an extensive array of educational programs delivered through
comprehensive culturally-informed curricula and instructional delivery
methods. Some of the programs are taught in English, others are taught
in the medium of Hawaiian, and still others have lessons in both
English and Hawaiian.
At the foundation of many of the most successful Native Hawaiian
education programs are comprehensive early education initiatives.
Another key component is the focus on developing the ``whole child'' as
part of an extended family and community grounded in Hawaiian culture,
values and practices.
Many programs recognize the importance of inter-generational family
members--not only parents, but grandparents, aunties, uncles, and other
primary caregivers--as first teachers for their children, and as part
of a community of other parents, family members, and teachers working
together. The curriculum is organized around learning themes and
cultural aspects, as well as those values that continue to influence
the lives of Hawaiian children. Some innovative programs have developed
the capacity to travel to where they are needed.
An internationally accredited and recognized indigenous language
medium program, began almost 30 years ago when the community realized
that the Native Hawaiian language was about to be lost--is now a model
followed throughout the United States. But in the beginning the program
started when young parents and elders came together to establish
centers where the Hawaiian language and Hawaiian cultural traditions
central to family life would be reestablished and maintained--starting
with toddlers. Expansion of this preschool program progressed through
elementary and high school into the university and eventually to
graduate programs to form a comprehensive and integrated P-20 Native
language educational system.
Now with three decades of data and experience--three generations of
Native language speakers, a second generation of Hawaiian medium
teachers and administrators, and an accredited college dedicated to
teacher preparation and education in the Native language--the benefits
of this form of education are clear.
We have also learned that a unique strength of Hawaiian medium
preschools is early literacy development. The children in these schools
learn to read approximately two years earlier than children in English
medium schools. This early literacy is possible in part because of the
syllabic methodology in the Native Hawaiian language, and due to the
reliance on culturally-based instructional delivery methods to form
literacy foundations and building blocks.
There are distinct advantages in learning initial reading in the
contemporary writing systems developed for Native American languages.
Native American writing systems are more aligned with scientific
linguistic principles central to teaching early reading than is the
highly irregular English writing system. Once the skill of reading is
mastered, it easily transfers to reading in English and other
languages.
The Chairman. Senator Franken?
STATEMENT OF HON. AL FRANKEN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MINNESOTA
Senator Franken. Thank you.
A very good thing happened for the Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig
School, the announcement of $11.9 million in funding to replace
the Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School. During this hearing, I will ask
Mr. Roberts some questions to get a bit more clarity on when
that money will get where it is going.
It is something I have been working on since I got here
essentially. I want to thank Interior Secretary Jewell for her
work in getting that money. It speaks to the larger issue of
school construction and maintenance in this country in Indian
country.
I am looking forward to today's hearing.
Thank you.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Franken.
With that, we will bring the witnesses forward and ask them
to testify. We will hear from Mr. Lawrence Roberts, Acting
Assistant Secretary, Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the
Interior; the Honorable Carlyle Begay, Arizona State Senator,
District 7, Arizona State Senate, Phoenix, Arizona; Ms.
Patricia Whitefoot, President, National Indian Education
Association; and Dr. Sandra Boham, who Senator Tester already
introduced.
Welcome to each of you. I want to remind you that your full
written testimony will be made a part of the official record.
Please try to keep your statements to about five minutes so
that we have time for questions.
Mr. Roberts, please proceed.
STATEMENT OF LAWRENCE S. ROBERTS, ACTING ASSISTANT SECRETARY,
INDIAN AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE
INTERIOR
Mr. Roberts. Good afternoon, Chairman Barrasso, Senator
McCain, Senator Franken, Senator Schatz, and members of the
Committee.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify on a number of
bills that impact the Bureau of Indian Education. I want to
thank each and every one of you for your dedication to Indian
country and in particular, to Indian students. The department
appreciates the ideas put forward to set students in BIE
schools on a path toward high achievement and success.
I want to thank each of the sponsors of the bills for their
leadership and for the time and attention of your staffs to
developing creative approaches to fostering student
achievement. I know we share that commitment and look forward
to continuing to work with all of you on what is truly a
bipartisan issue.
I want to start by touching on the recent leadership
changes at BIE. Last week, the Inspector General released a
report concerning Dr. Roessel. Given the gravity of the issues,
Dr. Roessel has been removed from the BIE Director position. As
this is an ongoing personnel matter, I appreciate your
understanding that I cannot get into more specifics regarding
Dr. Roessel today.
However, I am also very pleased to announce that Deputy
Assistant Secretary Ann Marie Bledsoe Downes will serve as
Acting BIE Director. She is a member of the Winnebago Tribe of
Nebraska and has an education background. She previously served
as President of the Little Priest Tribal College and on the
President's Advisory Board on Tribal Colleges and Universities.
She has been engaged in our education reform work and is
exceptionally qualified to take on this position.
Our BIE reorganization continues to move ahead and we hope
to see most of the reforms completed by the end of this year.
As a number of Senators mentioned in opening testimony, the GAO
has released a number of reports on the ongoing management
challenges and resulting poor student performance at BIE.
We are addressing each and every one of those issues and
are making significant progress towards building an
organization that focuses on performance and accountability
with an emphasis on tribal self-determination. To address the
structural challenges, we are removing red tape so the BIE
director can operate effectively on a suite of issues like
budget, facilities management and acquisitions. Our ultimate
goal is to structure our organization to better meet the
academic needs of our students and improve the performance of
our schools.
Today's bills cover a spectrum of proposals from creating
an independent agency to utilizing BIE appropriations to fund
individual accounts for students to attend private schools.
There has been a lot of attention, rightly so, on the lowest
performing schools funded or operated by BIE.
I want to emphasize that not every school in our system is
underperforming. In fact, we have had success stories like the
Sequoia School at the Cherokee Nation. I personally had a
chance to visit that school with Principal Chief Bill John
Baker who has made education a pillar of his administration.
The high school is truly exceptional with high achievement by
their students and a commitment to fostering tribal culture and
tribal languages.
We also have had a number of schools that are bright lights
which we are building on as part of our reforms. Many of our
kids, when they enter BIE schools are trailing kids nationally
at their grade level. The kids in these bright light schools
are outpacing State schools on measures of academic growth in
terms of math and reading, passing kids they once trailed. With
those schools in mind, I want to turn to today's bills.
With regard to your bill, Chairman Barrasso, we appreciate
the intention to elevate Indian education. Our BIE
reorganization does much of what it can administratively to
accomplish the same goal but our concern with the bill, quite
frankly, is that an independent agency may require too much
growing of the administrative functions and it might take some
time to stand up entirely new agency. We would like to work
with you to address those concerns.
Senator McCain, turning to your bill, the department does
support the goal of providing additional educational
opportunities to Native American students. Our concern is how
the bill, as drafted, might impact or reduce resources for
tribally and BIE operated schools while potentially having an
impact on per pupil costs.
With regard to Senator Tester's bill, the department
supports that legislation. While we understand many tribes
believe it is the Federal Government's sole responsibility to
construct, maintain and replace all BIE schools, it provides a
choice for those tribes that choose to use their own funds.
Finally, I would like to touch on the recent announcement
we made regarding school construction. I know it has been a
topic of great interest for many members of the Committee.
Ten BIE schools are now eligible for funding for campus-
wide replacement. The release of the list is a necessary step
forward to ensure that students have access to quality
education. The next step is to secure funding to replace those
schools. We look forward to continuing to work with all of you
on that issue.
Separately, as Senator Franken said, we will provide
funding to replace a single building at the Bug School. After
reviewing the data, this is the only building that is in poor
that was never designed to be used as an educational building.
This will be accomplished through a separate budgetary line
item.
Mr. Chairman, that concludes my testimony. I am happy to
answer any questions you may have.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Roberts follows:]
Prepared Statement of Lawrence S. Roberts, Acting Assistant Secretary,
Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior
s. 2468, the safe academic facilities and environments for tribal youth
act
Good afternoon, Chairman Barrasso, Vice Chairman Tester, and
members of the Committee. My name is Larry Roberts, and I am the Acting
Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Department of the
Interior (Department). I appreciate the opportunity to testify on
behalf of the Department before this Committee on S. 2468, the Safe
Academic Facilities and Environments for Tribal Youth Act, a bill to
require the Secretary for the Department to carry out a five-year
demonstration program to provide grants to eligible Indian tribes for
the construction of tribal schools, and for other purposes. The
Department supports S. 2468.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs provides funds for facility programs
for 183 academic and resident-only facilities on 63 reservations in 23
states for approximately 48,000 students and two post-secondary
institutions, the Haskell Indian Nations University, and the Southwest
Indian Polytechnic Institute. Since 2001, the condition of BIA-funded
schools has improved. In the last 10 years, Congress provided over $2.5
billion for construction, repair, and maintenance to reduce the number
of schools in ``poor condition'' by nearly 50 percent. The number of
schools in poor condition went down from more than 120 in 2001 to 63
today. We were pleased to receive funding in FY 2016 to complete work
on the last two schools on the 2004 replacement school priority list.
While significant progress has been made in the correction of education
facility deficiencies, the fact that 63 schools remain in poor
condition is unacceptable.
S. 2468 proposes a demonstration program that would allow for
tribal contributions to accelerate the construction of education
facilities in the BIE system. While such facilities are a Federal
responsibility, some tribes have chosen to use their own funds.
Therefore, the Department supports S. 2468 as an option for tribes if
they choose to contribute their own funds.
S. 2468 aims to improve Indian Country education-related facilities
by directing the Secretary to establish a five-year demonstration
program that would allow for tribal contributions to accelerate the
construction of education facilities in the Bureau of Indian Education
system. S. 2468 also would amend the Tribally Controlled Colleges and
Universities Assistance Act of 1978 to improve and expand federal
grants for the construction of new postsecondary facilities.
Additionally, S. 2468 would authorize the BIE to provide housing
assistance to Native communities with BIE schools and public schools
with large American Indian/Alaska Native populations. Finally, S. 2468
would require the BIE and the Office of Management and Budget to
develop a 10-year plan to bring all BIE schools into ``good condition''
within the Facilities Condition Index, and would require the Government
Accountability Office to conduct a study on the Impact Aid school-
construction program administered by the Department of Education.
The Department understands that S. 2468 would establish a separate,
and potentially duplicative, program from our current BIE construction
program. This new program would be outside the BIA's current process
for new school construction and outside the Indian Affairs' improvement
and repairs program.
The Department supports the goal of improving the management of the
education construction portfolio by developing a 10-year plan for
school construction and repair. Implementation of that plan would be
contingent upon future appropriations.
The Department understands that it may be difficult for any tribe
to commit up to 25 percent of its own resources toward a BIE school,
especially considering that the Federal Government would retain
ownership. The Department further understands that many of those tribes
that currently have BIE schools and BIE dormitories on their lands
believe it is the Federal Government's sole responsibility to
construct, replace, repair, and maintain all BIE schools.
The Department supports grants to Tribal Colleges and Universities
(TCUs) but suggests that the bill also consider how Operation and
Maintenance funding will be addressed after the buildings are
constructed under the five-year demonstration program, and whether
those buildings would become part of the BIE inventory that the Federal
Government would be required, in the future, to replace. The Department
recommends clarifying whether the new education facilities and teacher
housing constructed under the demonstration program would be owned by
the Tribe or the Federal Government so that it is clear which entity
would be responsible for managing, maintaining, and eventually
replacing the facilities.
Again, the Department supports S. 2468. The Department would like
to work with the Committee to address our concerns. I am prepared to
respond to any questions the Committee may have.
s. 2580, reforming american indian standards of education act of 2016
Good afternoon, Chairman Barrasso, Vice Chairman Tester, and
members of the Committee. My name is Larry Roberts, and I am the Acting
Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Department of the
Interior (Department). I appreciate the opportunity to testify on
behalf of the Department on S. 2580.
The Department recognizes the challenges we face in providing high-
quality education to American Indian students in schools that are
operated by tribes or directly operated by the Bureau of Indian
Education (BIE). S. 2580 would replace the BIE with the Indian
Education Agency (IEA) and elevate the current career Director position
to a Presidentially appointed political position. S. 2580 would
transfer all the current employment positions and functions of BIE to
the IEA. The Department appreciates the Chairman's commitment to
improving the education of Native students; however, the Department
does not support S. 2580 for the reasons outlined below.
The Bureau of Indian Education
The BIE supports education programs and residential facilities for
Indian students from federally recognized tribes at 183 elementary and
secondary schools and dormitories. Currently, 51 tribes operate 129
schools and dormitories through grants or contracts with the BIE and
the BIE directly operates 54 residential and non-residential schools.
During the 2015-2016 school-year, BIE-funded schools served
approximately 48,000 American Indian students and residential boarders
in grades K-12. Approximately 3,800 teachers, professional staff,
principals, and school administrators work within the 54 BIE-operated
schools. In addition, approximately twice that number work within the
129 tribally operated schools.
161 BIE schools are located in communities with a population of
10,000 or less. The average distance of BIE schools to the closest
urban center is 164 miles. Only five of our schools are located in an
urban center. BIE schools are typically located in the heart of rural
America. The rural and remote locations of the schools are most often
in areas of concentrated poverty with insufficient housing and
services. The geographical dispersion of the schools makes it difficult
to achieve economies of scale in terms of staffing for both
instructional and school operational support. Federal funding addresses
infrastructure needs such as water, roads, fire departments, housing,
and high-speed broadband access. When taken together, these factors and
the unique educational and instructional-support requirements have
contributed to the higher than average U.S. public school per-pupil
costs.
The Department of the Interior and the Department of Education
worked together to form the BIE Study Group (Study Group) to diagnose
the educational conditions that contribute to academic challenges in
BIE-funded schools, and to recommend strategies for tackling these
complex issues. The Study Group combined management, legal, education,
and tribal expertise to ground its recommendations in a comprehensive
manner to improve how schools work in Indian country, including
effective teaching practices and student learning.
The Study Group visited schools and met with tribal leaders, school
boards, educators, parents, and other stakeholders from numerous tribes
across the country. The impact of not having an education system
tailored to the needs of 21st century learning is seen first-hand in
the lack of technology, aging school structures, difficulties in
attracting and retaining teachers, inadequate socio-emo*tional support
networks, and out-of-sync curricula. Yet, amidst these challenges, many
promising signs of change were seen, growing from grassroots solutions
and best practices that can be scaled up to other schools.
Recommendations, published in the Blueprint, are focused on five
pillars of reform: Comprehensive Supports through Partnerships, Self-
Determination for Tribal Nations, Highly Effective Teachers and
Principals, Agile Organization Environment, and Budget that Supports
Capacity Building. These five pillars bring together the evidence and
expertise from the reviews, analysis, tribal consultations, tribal
listening sessions, visits, and research. Our course is one in which
the BIE moves away from a ``command and control'' regime and instead
partners with tribes to provide the services, resources, and technical
assistance that tribes need to directly operate high-achieving schools.
With an organizational structure better suited to the fact that
tribes operate the majority of BIE schools, the restructured BIE will
result in schools that can better prepare their students for college
and the workforce. Further, the restructured BIE will be able to
strengthen and support the efforts of tribal nations to exercise self-
deter*mination. The BIE will fully maintain its trust and treaty
responsibilities by supporting schools in not only meeting the demands
of 21st century teaching and learning, but also building the capacity
of tribal education departments to manage their own BIE-funded school
systems.
S. 2580, Reforming American Indian Standards of Education (RAISE) Act
A year ago, this Committee held a hearing on the BIE Blueprint
recommendations for reform. I am pleased to report that BIE's reform
implementation is under way. As we work together with our tribes,
teachers, administrators, students, and families, we remain inspired by
the dignity, strength, pride, and resolve in the tribal communities to
do what*ever it takes to give their children the education system they
need and deserve.
The BIE reforms embody the ideas contained in S. 2580, focusing on
improved student performance and accountability. The BIE reforms will
address major components of S. 2580. Like S. 2580, BIE's redesign
locates decisionmaking authority for the educational and operational
support functions, including school facilities management, with the
Director of BIE. The restructure reduces the current bureaucracy so
schools can leverage resources and talent to raise student academic
performance, and enables principals to focus on their primary mission
of instructional leadership. The BIE's goal is to be a more responsive
organization that provides resources, guidance, and services to tribes
so that they can help their students attain high levels of achievement.
S. 2580 and the Department's ongoing reform seek to bring not only
the education functions under the Director of BIE, but all the school
support functions as well. The BIE reform does this without creating an
agency-level organization, as BIE will leverage investments from the
BIA and other Departmental resources such as data systems and
databases, consolidated administrative or ``back-room'' functions;
reporting processes, and overall Department-wide policy and oversight
functions.
During the reform effort, the Department considered creating a BIE
agency. Based on tribal consultations and review, we concluded that a
full BIE agency is not the best-fit organizational improvement model.
Much of this conclusion is based on the fact that the higher percentage
of BIE schools are Tribally operated and that percentage is likely to
increase.. Tribes will continue to run their schools, with BIE
providing technical assistance, services, support, and required
compliance and accountability responsibilities.
The Department has the following concerns with S. 2580.
The current Departmental reorganization right-sizes BIE and
incorporates construction and maintenance functions while
avoiding the creation of a full agency and the additional FTEs
which would be required under that model. Under the Assistant
Secretary for Indian Affairs, education will remain a critical
component of tribal community development and support, with a
coordinated and collaborative approach to the delivery of
programs and services. Similar to the Department of Defense
schools, which are a field activity under the Assistant
Secretary for Personnel and Readiness, BIE students and
families benefit from the broader community portfolio of the
Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs.
Creation of a new agency could take years to fully
implement. BIE is currently implementing the reform and is on
track to transition much of the reform this year. If S. 2580
were to become law, undoubtedly, Indian Affairs or the
Department will need to engage in tribal consultation in
accordance with Executive Order 13175.. Consultation has been a
longstanding foundation to provide the dialogue between the
Federal Government and tribal nations. The strategy, plan,
resources, and impact on schools will be areas on which tribes
will likely and rightly want to provide input.
The bill does not appear to include the Education Resource
Centers (ERCs) and the School Improvement Teams, which are
already in the process of being implemented. The ERCs and
School Improvement Teams provide resources directly to
teachers, principals, and students, which is critical. School
systems that have achieved significant improvement in student
outcomes have organized their school improvement specialists to
be closer to schools. These experts can work frequently and
consistently with the school community to identify and apply
the interventions that will work best for their population.
The bill could increase costs significantly. S. 2580 is
unclear as to what functions would remain with the Department
as a whole versus the IEA. There is also the potential of
adding more costs by establishing an IEA with its own parallel
institutions.
For too long, tribes did not have a voice in the direction of the
BIE schools on their reservations. A foundational principle of the
Blueprint is that the Federal Government is fostering tribes to run
their BIE schools with the resources and support that are necessary to
have successful students in those schools. This reform implementation
accomplishes many of the goals of S. 2580 without the increased expense
or implementation time that establishing an independent agency would
entail. I am happy to answer any questions the Committee may have.
s. 2711, the native american education opportunity act
Good afternoon, Chairman Barrasso, Vice Chairman Tester, and
members of the Committee. My name is Larry Roberts, and I am the Acting
Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Department of the
Interior (Department). I appreciate the opportunity to testify on
behalf of the Department on S. 2711, the Native American Education
Opportunity Act.
The United States' trust and treaty obligations include the
education of Native youth. The Nation's history in this respect has
often fallen short. Beginning in the 19th century, the United States
government implemented a policy of placing Native youth in boarding
schools, which had devastating impacts on Native children and tribal
communities. During the 20th Century, Native children and communities
endured Federal policies of relocation and termination. Since the
1970s, the United States has repudiated those failed policies of
earlier eras and replaced them with policies promoting tribal self-
determination and self-governance.
Through legislation, Congress has enabled the Department to
contract with Tribes to deliver Federal services relating to education.
Today, Tribes run nearly 70 percent of the BIE funded schools. Whether
tribally or BIE-operated, over 80 percent of the schools are in rural
areas. The rural setting presents additional challenges in providing
high-quality education to American Indian students in BIE schools.
S. 2711 would expand opportunities for Native children by providing
funding for an Education Spending Account (ESA), ``an account
controlled by a parent from which the parent may purchase goods and
services needed for the education of the student.'' These ESAs could
include spending for private school tuition, or church-operated
schools, for example. 90 percent of federal funding for each student
could be transferred to the non-BIE school. Although S. 2711 may
provide options for the parents of BIE students, S. 2711 impacts Tribes
and those students who remain in BIE schools. S. 2711 would essentially
transfer Federal funds from tribally and BIE-operated schools to non
BIE schools. For these reasons, the Department cannot support S. 2711.
The Bureau of Indian Education
The BIE supports education programs and residential facilities for
Indian students from federally recognized tribes at 183 elementary and
secondary schools and dormitories. The BIE serves approximately 8
percent of Native youth, while public schools serve 90 percent.
Currently, the BIE directly operates 54 schools and dormitories, while
51 tribes operate the remaining 129 schools and dormitories through
grants or contracts with BIE. During the 2015-2016 school year, BIE-
funded schools served approximately 48,000 individual American Indian
students and residential boarders in grades K-12. Approximately 3,800
teachers, professional staff, principals, and school administrators
work within the 54 BIE-operated schools. In addition, approximately
twice that number work within the 129 tribally-operated schools.
The BIE and tribes are confronted with unique and urgent challenges
in providing high-quality education to Indian students. Based on a
recent BIE rural school analysis, 161 BIE schools are located in
communities with a population of 10,000 or less. The average distance
of BIE schools to the closest urban center is 164 miles, and only five
BIE schools are located within an urban center. The rural and remote
locations of the schools are most often in areas of concentrated
poverty with insufficient housing and services. The geographical
dispersion of the schools makes it difficult to achieve economies of
scale in terms of staffing for both instructional and school
operational support. Federal funding addresses infrastructure needs
such as water, roads, fire departments, housing, and high-speed
broadband access. When taken together, these factors and the unique
educational and instructional-support requirements have contributed to
the higher than average U.S. public school per-pupil costs.
S. 2711 Native American Education Opportunity Act
Along with the sponsors of S. 2711, the Department shares the
concerns and goals of improving the lives of Indian students by
providing a high-quality education. The Department, however, cannot
support S. 2711. The vast majority of BIE schools are operated by
Tribes and the students served are located in some of the most rural
areas in the United States. While transfer to an urban private school
may be an option for a few students, doing so would result in further
financial strain on the BIE system, including tribally operated
schools. S. 2711 would directly impact the 51 tribes that have opted to
run the 129 tribally controlled schools. ESA funding provided to an
eligible student would decrease by 90 percent the funding available to
the BIE school on behalf of that student.
Additionally, we are concerned with how S. 2711 would impact tribal
languages, culture, and history. Many tribal and BIE-operated schools
incorporate Native language, culture, and history into their curricula.
Federal funding currently supports these efforts, and if funding is
reduced for tribally and BIE-operated schools, tribes will need to make
difficult decisions on how to address those budget challenges.
Additionally, the Department is unaware of similar efforts by private
schools to promote Native language, culture, and history; this could
mean that many private schools may lack the capacity to address this
crucial area of Indian student wellness and achievement. Further,
tribes have advocated funding for tribal support costs, facilities
operations and maintenance, and school construction to implement their
vision for tribal education. It is unclear how S. 2711 would impact
this funding.
Finally, while S. 2711 provides parents with a choice, it may be a
difficult one for many families. As a practical matter, private schools
are primarily located outside of Indian reservations. As I mentioned,
the average distance of BIE schools to the closest urban center is 164
miles. In evaluating this legislation, the Department conducted a
preliminary review of private school locations in Arizona, and found
that there are 291 private schools in Arizona but only six \1\ are
located on Indian reservations. S. 2711 would create an incentive for
families of BIE students to move to urban centers or separate the BIE
student from the family to attend an off-reservation private school.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Arizona's Six Indian Reservation-based Private Schools: 1) Hopi
Mission School (Kykotsmovi), 2) Living Word Academy (Sells--Tohono
O'odham), 3) Navajo Christian Preparatory Academy (Rock Point), 4) St.
Michael Indian School (St. Michael--Navajo), 5) St. Michaels
Association for Special Education (St. Michaels--Navajo Nation), 6)
Immanuel Mission School (Teec Nos Pos--Navajo Nation). (National Center
for Educational Statistic's Private School Universe Survey data (PSUS)
for 2013-2014.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Department agrees with expanding opportunity for Native
American children through additional options in education, but those
options should promote tribal schools, not private schools. Thank you
for the opportunity to testify today. I am happy to answer any
questions the Committee may have.
The Chairman. Thank you very much, Mr. Roberts.
We will next hear from State Senator Carlyle Begay. Thank
you very much for being with us today.
STATEMENT OF HON. CARLYLE W. BEGAY, ARIZONA STATE SENATOR,
LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT 7
Mr. Begay. Good afternoon. Thank you, Chairman Barrasso,
Vice Chairman Tester, and members of the Committee on Indian
Affairs. Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to
testify today regarding one of our Nation's most underserved
student populations, American Indian and Alaska Native
students.
I also will talk today about S. 2711, the Native American
Education Opportunity Act and how it will provide additional
educational options in certain States for Native American
students served today by funds from the Bureau of Indian
Education.
By way of introduction, my name is Carlyle W. Begay, State
Senator for Legislative District 7 in the great State of
Arizona.
[Native Language Introduction].
Arizona has a rich Native American history which spans
centuries and today is home to 22 federally-recognized Native
American tribes. More specifically, Arizona has the second
largest Native American student population in the United
States.
Before I talk about the Native American Education
Opportunity Act, it is important to point out that for so many
of us in this room, Indian education is very personal. In fact,
when I was younger, I attended a BIE school in Kayenta, Arizona
on the Navajo Nation.
At that time, attending boarding school was the norm for
many Native American students like me. In fact, the first
boarding school off reservation was Carlisle Indian School. I
remember not understanding at the time why I had to attend that
school or why I had to stay there. However, my parents, like
many other tribal parents, believed this school was the best
option because it was the system that the Federal Government
established for educating American Indians.
My experience, and many others like mine, is the perfect
example as to why America should not focus on the systems of
education, but rather ensuring access to educational
opportunities that parents want and children need.
Today, the United States is working to replicate and
replace failed assimilation policies, including education
policies, by promoting tribal self-determination and self-
governance. Empowering Native American families to make crucial
education decisions for their children is the true essence of
self-determination and self-empowerment.
The importance of maintaining the United States' trust
responsibility and treaty obligations is more important than
ever, but those obligations were penned more than 150 years
ago, and nothing should stay the same for 150 years.
We by no means dissolve that obligation; instead it is
imperative that we build upon that obligation. The achievement
gap for Native American students in Arizona and across this
country is very real and the solutions are multi-dimensional
and complex. They include a lack of empowerment options.
After 150 years, we cannot solve all the needs and
priorities of entire school systems, including BIE overnight.
We can create opportunities now for Native American families
through policies like the Native American Education Opportunity
Act. We must give thanks to many tribal leaders who came before
us much like the great Chief Manuelito of the Navajo Nation in
the era we now term Hweeldi or The Long Walk.
My people were marched from confined areas, the Navajo
Nation, to an area in New Mexico. At that time, I believe our
tribal leaders did not understand what education really meant.
Today, it is time for us to explore what is education today in
our Native American communities.
I recently spoke to a high school class within an Arizona
tribal community. I will never forget the response of a student
when I asked, ``What are your goals and your ambitions in life?
What are your plans after high school?'' The student said,
``Why does it matter and why do you care? No one cares about me
or my people so what does it matter what I want to do or what I
end up doing?''
As disheartening as it is, this student represents perhaps
the feelings of many of other Native American children living
on reservations. This teen carries the burden of hopelessness
so common in modern day reservation life.
I encourage all of us here today to look at every option in
our efforts to improve educational opportunities so that kids
now are prepared for jobs of today and tomorrow. Last year, we
implemented we implemented a new program called the Empowerment
Scholarship Account in Arizona. That program opened options for
Native American families in Arizona's 22 tribal communities.
In four weeks, in a special enrollment period with no
outreach or education, almost 300 Native American families
applied for this program but denied in this program were
children attending at that time federally-funded schools.
Why should students attending federally-funded schools not
have the option to be empowered or the option to have better
quality options available to them? Many would argue why these
options are not available.
I believe the Native American Education Opportunity Act is
a step in the right direction. I thank Senator McCain for his
leadership and for listening to many Native American families
in Arizona to explore these options and essentially not make it
about the systems of education but simply like the young kid in
Arizona who said, why do you care, giving him the option and
opportunity to explore what he thinks is in the best interest
of his educational opportunities.
With that, Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, I am
open for questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Begay follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Carlyle W. Begay, Arizona State Senator,
Legislative District 7
Thank you, Chairman Barrasso, Vice Chairman Tester and members of
the Committee on Indian Affairs. Good afternoon and thank you for
inviting me and giving me this opportunity to testify today regarding
one of our Nation's most underserved student populations: American
Indian and Alaska Native students. I will also talk today about S.
2711''Native American Education Opportunity Act'' and how this Act will
provide additional education options in certain states for Native
American students served by schools funded by the Bureau of Indian
Education (BIE).
By the way of introduction my name is Carlyle W. Begay, State
Senator for Legislative District 7 in the Great State of Arizona.
Arizona has a rich Native American history that spans centuries and
today is home to 22 federally recognized Native American tribes with
the third largest population of Native Americans in the United States.
More specifically, Arizona has the second largest Native American
student population in the United States.
Before I talk about the ``Native American Education Opportunity
Act'' it is important to point out that for so many of us in this room
today this work in Indian education is very personal. In fact, when I
was younger I attended a BIE boarding school in Kayenta, Arizona on the
Navajo Nation. At that time, attending boarding school was the norm for
Navajo students, not just in 1860 or the early 1900's, but also all the
way up to 1985 and beyond. I attended this boarding school over a
hundred years after the first Native American students began attending
Carlisle Indian School, the first boarding school off-the reservation
for Native American students. I remember not understanding why I had to
attend that school or why I had to stay there. However, my parents,
like many other Tribal parents, believed this school was the best
option because it was the system that the federal government
established for educating American Indians. My experience, and the many
others like mine, is the perfect example as to why America should not
focus on the systems of education, but rather ensuring access to
educational opportunities that children need and parents want.
Today, the United States is working to replace failed assimilation
policies, including education policies, by promoting tribal self-
determination and self-governance. Empowering Native American families
to make crucial education decisions for their children is the true
essence of self-determination and self-empowerment.
The importance of maintaining the United States' trust and treaty
obligations is more important than ever, but those obligations were
penned more than 150 years ago, nothing should stay the same for 150
years. We by no means dissolve that obligation, instead it's imperative
that we build upon that obligation. The achievement gap for Native
American students in Arizona and across this country is very real and
the solutions are multi-dimensional and complex. They include a lack of
both community and parental involvement and, in some cases, a general
belief that education is not important in many tribal communities. It's
no wonder that tribal parents never embraced the government's system of
education because it was never the true Native American system of
education.
After 150 years we cannot solve all the needs and priorities of
entire school systems, including BIE, overnight but we can create
opportunities now for Native American families through policies like
the Native American Education Opportunity Act.
There's no doubt my elders and ancestors made great sacrifices to
get us to where we are today. I was born and raised on the Navajo
Nation, one of eight tribal communities that I represent as an Arizona
State Senator. My people's history and traditions have taught me
cultural relevancy and the importance of working together to continue
the advancement and purpose of those I serve.
We must give thanks to the leaders that served before us--like the
great Navajo Chief Manuelito--who led the Navajo people home from the
brink of extinction. Hweeldi or The Long Walk, which was much like the
Cherokee's Trail of Tears, was a harsh experience for the Navajo
people. Two thousand of my Navajo ancestors perished during Hweeldi as
they were starved into submission and forced to surrender. They were
then marched to a confined area so that the Spanish settlers could have
the finest grazing land and mineral-rich areas in Arizona.
The education being provided to students at tribal schools is akin
to modern day Hweeldi. While our ancestors suffered and were forced off
their lands, the reverse effect has taken hold--our students suffer
while remaining on our lands as they are required to attend low
performing schools, resulting in poor educational outcomes and limited
opportunities.
I recently spoke to a high school class within a Arizona tribal
community. I will never forget the response of a student when I asked,
``What are your goals and aspirations in your life? What are your plans
after high school?'' The student said, ``Why does it matter? Why do you
care? No one cares about me or my people so what does it matter what I
want to do or what I end up doing?''
As disheartening as it is, this student represents perhaps the
feelings of many of our Native American children living on
reservations. He feels invisible, unimportant and alienated. This teen
carries the burden of hopelessness so common in modern day reservation
life.
That exchange forced me to take a deeper look at how we can better
educate our Native American kids. The sad reality is that in Arizona,
we as Native people are dead last in both math and reading proficiency
scores according to the latest Annual Report on Indian Education
released by the Arizona Department of Education.
Across America, Native Americans have the lowest graduation rate of
all other ethnicities at 67 percent. Arizona fairs even worse with a
graduation rate of 64 percent, the lowest in the state. These
statistics make one thing clear--at least in the area of education, the
Federal Government has failed to live up to its responsibilities to
Indian children. This is why I was inspired to help expand school
choice on tribal lands and offer new educational options to our
students. Empowering tribal parents' with the ability to customize
their child's education or obtain access to new quality options is one
way to build up Native American communities through education.
I encourage all Native American parents, educators and tribal
leaders across the nation to begin shaping our own future on our terms.
We are in a time where we can raise our children to find their passion
to be a doctor, an engineer, a lawyer or the next Navajo Code Talker.
In order to do this, we need to draw in the nation's best schools in
partnership with our tribal communities, to create cutting-edge
schools, schools that incorporate our culture and languages, schools
who employ the best teachers and the best administrators.
No stone should be left unturned in our efforts to improve
educational outcomes so that our kids are prepared for jobs of today
and jobs of tomorrow.
Last year a new school choice law went into effect in Arizona
opening up the Empowerment Scholarship Account program universally to
Native American families living on any of the state's 22 reservations.
There was so much interest, that we fast tracked the bill
implementation and hundreds of families applied within a matter of
weeks. Unfortunately, some of the families who hoped to be on the
program did not qualify because their children were in BIE funded
schools. Why should this opportunity be limited to families attending
state public schools and not be afforded to those attending federally
funded schools? Sen. McCain understood the plight of these BIE families
and immediately offered to fight for them.
The availability of Empowerment Scholarship Accounts gives parents
the power to choose the education that best fits their child's needs.
The Native American Education Opportunity Act would give the parents of
students attending BIE schools and living within tribal communities in
Arizona and in three other states where ESA programs are currently
implemented the option to take their child out of that school and use
any of the ESA choices available to them in their home state. ESA
choices may include attending a private school, online curriculum,
tutors, home school and other education opportunities. Right now ESAs
would provide options to parents like on-line private school programs
or they would be able to attend the few private schools that are
already open on the reservations. Allow students to enroll in online
learning programs or enroll in designated educational therapies or
services (especially for kids with special needs or learning
disabilities). Or to seek tutoring services.
This Act would allow Native American families to tailor their
child's education because one size does not fit all.
There are 185 BIE schools in the nation. Nearly 5 out of 10
students attending these schools will not graduate high school. What if
we could give ESAs to those students who would not have made it to
graduation otherwise?
This is not saying that we need to do everything we can to support
and improve our BIE or public schools. In fact, many of our public and
BIE schools across Arizona are doing the best they can with the limited
resources they have.
On the reservation, we don't have the luxury of fighting over
educational systems vs. school choice options. We are in an on-going
crisis when it comes to educating our kids and we welcome any option
when it comes to educating our kids.
I don't expect ESAs to be the whole solution to fixing education on
or off tribal lands, but myself and other tribal leaders do believe
programs like this can spark change. We must build a better future for
our Native American families and I believe empowering these parents is
a crucial first step.
I ask you today for your help in sending a positive message to
tribal leaders, reservation communities and that student who asked,
``Why do I matter?'' Let's work together to say, ``We will end this
modern day Hweeldi. We will learn from our past mistakes. We will act
today to do whatever it takes to rescue our Native American students in
crisis because they DO matter.''
The Chairman. Thank you so much, Senator Begay, for your
comments. I appreciate it. We will get to questions in a few
moments.
Next, Ms. Whitefoot.
STATEMENT OF PATRICIA WHITEFOOT, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL INDIAN
EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
Ms. Whitefoot. Good afternoon, Chairman Barasso and
distinguished Committee members.
Let me begin by saying I appreciate the time you took to
acknowledge Chief Joe Medicine Crow, a good man. Thank you very
much.
It is an honor to be invited to provide testimony before
the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. The National Indian
Education Association commends Congress, particularly the
members of this Committee, for ensuring that tribal priorities
were a focus of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
Reauthorization and appreciate this Committee's dedication to
addressing the state of emergency for Indian education.
I also want to acknowledge Chairman Barrasso, Vice Chairman
Tester, and Senator McCain for introducing legislation to
improve the educational outcomes of Native students. We are
encouraged by the bipartisan efforts and commitment to our
Native children.
On a more personal note:
I am a member of the Yakima Nation. My English name is
Patricia Whitefoot. I have worked in education for over 40
years. My career covers preschool to higher education. I began
my years in education as a parent volunteer in Head Start.
Founded in 1969, the National Indian Education Association
represents Native students, educators, families, communities,
and tribes. As a member driven organization, NIEA looks to our
constituents for resolutions which guide policy at the Federal
level.
Although NIEA membership has not brought forth resolutions
focused on all the legislation being proposed today, we
appreciate the opportunity to provide our viewpoints on Senate
bills 2304, 2468, 2580, and 2711. NIEA would like to focus on
providing viewpoints that build from the legislation presented
today.
NIEA supports both Senator Tester's bills, 2304 and 2468,
and has provided suggested amendments to strengthen the
language of both in our testimony.
NIEA also appreciates Chairman Barrasso's initiative to
make BIE a more efficient agency through the RAISE Act which is
the natural next step in BIE's current reform. Our membership
supports the BIE reorganization as long as congressional
oversight is provided throughout the process as highlighted in
our Resolution 2014-11.
The importance of the proposed Indian education agency
includes the opportunity for the BIE to establish and fulfill
its own budget through the appropriations process which NIEA's
membership has continuously voiced support through resolutions
like 2014-17.
Identifying solutions to best support our students locally
is a NIEA priority and we are looking forward to working with
this Committee to further develop them.
Our concerns regarding the RAISE Act include the following.
One, how will tribal input, including school leadership, be
incorporated? Second, what funding levels will be needed to
make this move? Three, will these requests be new funds? Four,
how will the RAISE Act align with the current BIE
reorganization process?
NIEA acknowledges that a progressive first step in this
process is the elevation of the BIE Education Director position
from a career to a political appointee. This legislation is an
opportunity to take a step forward and build from Congress'
focus on Indian education. We look forward to hearing from
tribes and tribal schools regarding this change.
Finally, NIEA understands Senator McCain's bill, 2711, is
based on providing equal access to BIE students. However, we
are concerned with the implications of this bill. Currently,
NIEA does not have a resolution specifically for this proposal.
We would like to highlight some of our initial concerns and
expect to continue this conversation about the implications of
the Native American Education Opportunity Act with a focus on
what is best for our students.
Our concerns are, first, protecting self determination.
Both Congress and this Committee have shown tremendous
bipartisan support for increasing and promoting tribal
sovereignty within the education system.
This particular bill takes away funding from BIE-operated
schools and from schools directly operated by tribes. In
addition, the schools that are eligible to receive tribal
education dollars are not required to consult with tribes or to
ensure that Native students are receiving education grounded in
their culture.
This Committee has continuously supported tribally-driven
education. This bill seems to work against the tribal school
model that serves our students well.
Second, we are concerned about the potential negative
effects on the overall BIE infrastructure. We are concerned
this legislation will negatively affect the whole BIE
infrastructure. The cost of educating a student attending a BIE
school is higher than the average per pupil expenditure for
students attending public schools because it is not only a
direct educational service cost but also encompasses
transportation, housing and much more.
If BIE students leave to attend non-BIE schools, then those
who remain will experience exacerbated educational disparities.
Third, is academic performance. Research shows that
academic performance of Native students improves when they
receive tribally-driven education. Continued investment and
support of community-driven initiatives and schools is
warranted.
In conclusion, I would like to thank the Committee for
holding this hearing. By shining a much needed light on the
issues facing Native education, you continue to raise awareness
and garner support for critical issues in Indian country on
behalf of our students.
Working together we are confident we can build
collaborative relationships necessary to strengthen tribal self
determination in education. I would like to submit our written
testimony including supporting resolutions for the record.
I look forward to any questions you may have.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Whitefoot follows:]
Prepared Statement of Patricia Whitefoot, President, National Indian
Education Association
Introduction
Good morning Chairman and distinguished committee members. It is an
honor to be invited to provide testimony before the Senate Committee on
Indian Affairs. I would like to begin by thanking the Committee for its
continued efforts to improve the education services delivered to
American Indian and Alaska Natives students. I also want to acknowledge
Chairman Barasso, Vice Chairman Tester, and Senator McCain for
introducing legislation specific to improving the educational outcomes
of Native students. We are encouraged by the bi-partisan efforts and
the dedication to our Native children.
Founded in 1969, The National Indian Education Association (NIEA)
represents Native students, educators, families, communities, and
tribes. NIEA's mission is to advance comprehensive, culture-based
educational opportunities for American Indians, Alaska Natives, and
Native Hawaiians. As the premiere organization advocating for Native
students, NIEA works to achieve education equity and excellence, to
ensure all students are provided a high-quality academic and culture-
based education.
As a member driven organization, NIEA looks to our constituents for
resolutions which are vital forms of organizational policy guiding NIEA
at the federal level. Although NIEA membership has not brought forth
resolutions focused on specific new legislation, NIEA is prepared to
offer recommendations supported by evidence-based data. Comments and
recommendations below provide essential strategies helping education
systems evolve and meet the unique needs of Native students.
Federal Responsibility to Native Education
Since its inception, NIEA's work has centered on reversing negative
trends within Native education, a feat that is possible only if the
Federal Government upholds its trust responsibility to tribes.
Established through treaties, federal law, and U.S. Supreme Court
decisions, this relationship includes a fiduciary obligation to provide
parity in access and equal resources to all American Indian and Alaska
Native students, regardless of where they attend school. Under the
Federal Government's trust corpus in the field of Indian education, it
is important to state that the obligation is a shared trust among the
Administration and Congress for federally-recognized Indian tribes.
To the extent that measurable trust standards in Indian education
can be evaluated, NIEA suggests this Committee refer to the
government's own studies encompassing Native test scores, treaty-based
appropriation decreases, and Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Reports, among other reports, which illustrate the continued inability
of the Federal Government to uphold the trust responsibility and
effectively serve our students.
Education is the only way to break the cycle of poverty within our
reservation and urban communities. NIEA urges Congress to fulfill its
trust responsibility to America's most vulnerable children by ensuring
they have access to educational resources they deserve.
The State of Native Education
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) is the
largest civil rights education law supporting low-income schools with
the funding necessary to provide high-need students with access to an
excellent education. With the recent reauthorization, the newly renamed
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) marks a new era of state and local
innovation to best support our students and has received a tremendous
amount of bipartisan support for Native education specifically. We
commend Congress particularly the members of this Committee for
ensuring that tribal priorities were a focus of the reauthorization.
As we celebrate the signing of the ESSA law, we must continue to
shed light on the fact that Native education continues to be in a state
of emergency. As Interior Secretary Sally Jewell has stated, ``Indian
education is an embarrassment to you and to us. We know that self-
determination and self-governance is going to play an important role in
bringing the kind of academically rigorous and culturally appropriate
education that children need.'' \1\ Students attending BIE funded
schools experience some of the worst educational disparities across the
country, even though the BIE is one of two education systems for which
the Federal Government has direct responsibility.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Hearing before the Committee on Indian Affairs, S. Hrg. 113-92
(May 15, 2013).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
While this Committee is cognizant of the educational disparities
Native youth experience, NIEA highlights a few overwhelming statistics:
Research has shown that by age 2, American Indian students
begin to fall behind national scores in tests of specific
cognitive skills in vocabulary, listening comprehension,
matching and counting.
By age 4, smaller percentages of American Indian children
demonstrate age-appropriate language, literacy, mathematics,
and color-identification skills, compared to the total
population of children.
In 2012, 17 percent of Native students age 25 and older held
at least a bachelor's degree in comparison to 33 percent of
White students.
In 2015, the national high school graduation rate reached an
all-time high at 82 percent, while American Indian and Alaska
Native students experienced a stagnant rate of 69.6 percent.
Unfortunately, Native students, attending BIE funded and
operated schools experienced even lower graduation rates at 53
percent, nearly 30 percent below the national average. \2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of
Education Sciences, United States Department of Education. 2015. The
Condition of Education (NCES 2015-144). http://nces.ed.gov/programs-/
coe/indicator_coi.asp
A recent GAO report released in March 2016 highlighted the
lack of national information on safety and health deficiencies
at BIE facilities, which is highly problematic considering the
dire safety hazards at certain schools with the potential to
seriously harm students and teachers at these facilities. \3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ See GAO, Key Actions Needed to Ensure Safety and Health at
Indian School Facilities, GAO-16-391T (Mar. 16, 2016).
Despite the small federal legislative successes, these statistics
and historical background demonstrate the critical need to transform
Native education systems through innovative legislation discussed
today.
Recommendations
Safe Academic Facilities and Environments for Tribal Youth Act (S.
2468)
Research has shown that critical investments in BIE are needed in
overlooked areas such as school construction and technology. Many
Native students attempt to make academic gains in dilapidated, below-
standards school facilities. Abandoning school construction funding, in
particular, has been extremely detrimental to Native youth, as the GAO
has reported that better school facilities are associated with better
student outcomes. \4\ As such, NIEA appreciates Senator Tester's
innovative proposal to support construction efforts for tribal schools
through a demonstration program. By allowing tribes to receive grants
directly for schools on the construction list, tribes may not be forced
to wait decades for the BIE to handle construction.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ See GAO, School Facilities: Physical Conditions in School
Districts Receiving Impact Aid for Students Residing on Indian Lands,
GAO-10-32 (Oct. 29, 2009).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
NIEA membership has consistently stated their support for new
school construction. NIEA Resolution 2011-18, which requested the BIE
and Federal Government to appropriate full funding for the tribally
controlled schools' facilities program, remains a standing request of
our organization, until all of our schools provide safe environments
for Native students. As such, NIEA supports the SAFETY Act. We provide
the following suggested amendments to strengthen the language.
Suggested Amendments:
1. Proposed Language
Section 545(a)(2)(D) is amended by adding ``residing on tribal
lands'' in subsection D.
NIEA believes it is important to authorize funding for
inadequate housing for tribal educators. We understand the
eligibility requirement to be allocated to housing for full-
time teachers and administrators at BIE-funded schools and
public schools with at least 25 percent Indian students.
However, given the disparate need on reservation and tribal
lands, NIEA recommends prioritizing funding to these schools
and then expanding this opportunity to schools residing on non-
tribal lands.
2. Proposed Language
Section 3(5)(B) that the Indian tribe shall be required to
contribute towards the cost of the construction a tribal share
equal to at least 25 percent of the cost; is amended by
deleting it entirely.
Not all tribes have the capacity or funding to invest in
construction. Given the trust responsibility the U.S. government has
with tribal nations, providing construction costs to repair facilities
is an obligation that has yet to be fulfilled. As such, tribes should
not be required to contribute 25 percent of these costs.
Lastly, since there is no source of funding identified for these
grants, NIEA reiterates its FY 2017 budget request to Congress to fully
appropriate construction costs. In addition, we request that the
Committee urge the Department of Interior to release the school
construction list immediately in order to move forward.
Tribal Early Childhood, Education, and Related Services Integration Act
(S. 2304)
Research supports that integrated, comprehensive, and culturally
appropriate education, improves the lives and opportunities for Native
youth overall. This kind of culture-based education is especially
important at an early age. As such, NIEA appreciates Senator Tester's
bill to provide for a new demonstration program which aims to
coordinate different kinds of early childhood and education services
provided to tribes and tribal communities. The emphasis on community
engagement and ``family-based'' education programs is vital to
supporting our children and our communities.
Several NIEA resolutions (2013-13, 2013-12, 2013-09) support
incorporating language and culture into a student's education. As such,
we support Senator Tester's bill to provide greater coordination
amongst various early childhood programs and services. We provide the
following suggestions to strengthen the language.
Suggested Revisions:
1. Consolidation of funds should not result in any decrease to
other Indian Head Start programs. The few early learning
services provided to Native children have limited resources.
This piece of legislation has not allocated new funding for the
demonstration program, as such, there is the potential that
there may be a decrease in funding from existing Indian Head
Start programs.
2. The importance of removing supplement and not supplant
restriction is crucial for Native communities that would like
to take advantage of the proposed program.
Section 805A(c)(5)(B)(ii) prevents the Secretary from waiving
``any specific statutory requirement for recipients of Federal
funding related to . the use of Federal funds to supplement,
and not supplant, non-Federal funds.'' Indian Head Start
programs often have difficulty meeting non- Federal share
requirements due to the nature of tribal funding and the types
of contributions that can be counted toward the non-Federal
share of funds. This restriction will make it difficult to
ensure optimal success of any tribal early childhood
demonstration program.
Reforming American Indian Standards of Education Act (S. 2580)
NIEA continues to urge for transparency in the design and execution
of the BIE reorganization specifically as it relates to the explicit
incorporation of tribal participation, including school leadership. We
have submitted a letter in support of the BIE's reorganization with
guidance accordingly. NIEA understands the RAISE Act as the next
natural step in BIE's current reform. Our membership supports the BIE
reorganization as long as sufficient congressional oversight is
provided throughout the process as highlighted in Resolution 2014-11.
The benefits of the proposed Indian Education Agency include the
opportunity for the BIE to establish its own budget and work for
appropriations towards that budget. Currently, BIE's budget requests
must go through the Bureau of Indian Affairs--this process often
dilutes education requests. BIE's autonomy to function within its own
jurisdiction will enable the agency to better meet the needs of Native
students attending BIE schools. NIEA's membership has voiced the need
for this through Resolution 2014-17, which requests the establishment
of a BIE Tribal Task Force comprised of tribal leaders and federal
agency representatives to study the funding constraints BIE schools
experience as well as investigate appropriate measures to be taken in
order to address such concerns culminated into a final report.
As you all know, the BIE reorganization has been predominantly
focused on administration in Washington DC and not as much on the
students who will be most affected. Identifying solutions to best
support our students locally is a priority that NIEA has and is looking
forward to working with this Committee to further develop solutions
that serve them best. In the meantime, we also have the following
questions regarding the RAISE Act:
1. How will tribal input, including school leadership be
incorporated?
2. What funding levels will be needed to make this move? And
will these requests be new monies?
3. How will the RAISE Act align with the current BIE
reorganization?
Lastly, while the Committee is considering the RAISE Act, NIEA
acknowledges that a progressive first step in this process is the
elevation of the BIE Director position from a career to a political
appointee. This legislation is an opportunity to take a step forward in
this direction along with building from Congress' focus on Indian
education. We look forward to hearing from tribes and tribal schools
regarding this change.
Native American Education Opportunity Act (S. 2711)
NIEA thanks Senator McCain for putting forth legislation that would
include students attending BIE schools to have an alternative
educational option in Arizona. However, currently NIEA does not have a
resolution specific for this proposition. As such, we would like to
highlight some of our initial concerns and expect to continue this
conversation about the implications of the Native American Education
Opportunity Act with a focus on what is best for our students.
Under the Arizona-Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA), parents
receive a debit card for a variety of education expenses, including
private school tuition, online school expenses, textbooks and tutoring
from public school funding. The average annual base-funding amount per
student ranges from $4,600 to $5,400 for students in 1st through 12th
grades. This bill will repurpose funds appropriated to BIE schools as
formula funding, and require those be put towards ESAs that can be used
by eligible students' parents to pay for schooling elsewhere. In other
words, up to 90 percent of the $15,000 per pupil expenditure for
students attending BIE-funded schools would leave the BIE system.
NIEA has three main concerns with this bill:
1. Protecting Self-Determination.
Both Congress and this Committee have shown tremendous bi-
partisan support for increasing and promoting tribal
sovereignty in Native education systems. Through the ongoing
support of immersion programs, the newly authorized
consultation requirements of state education agencies, and the
commitment this Committee has shown in supporting tribally
controlled schools, universities, and colleges, Congress and
the Administration have taken critical steps to supporting
tribal autonomy. This particular bill seems to take a step in
the opposite direction. This bill will not only take funding
away from BIE operated schools but from schools directly
operated by the tribes. In addition, the schools that that will
now be eligible to receive tribal education dollars, are not
required to consult with tribes or ensure that Native students
are receiving an education grounded in their culture or ways of
knowing. Considering this Committee's support for a tribally
driven education, this bill seems to work against a tribal
school model that serves our students well.
2. Potential Negative Effects on BIE Infrastructure.
We are concerned this piece of legislation will not only affect
the students who decide to take advantage of the ESA program,
but it will also negatively affect the whole BIE
infrastructure. There are several reasons as to why the cost of
educating a student attending a BIE-funded school is much
higher than the average per pupil expenditure of students
attending public schools. The $15,000 amount is not a direct
educational service cost only; it encompasses a great deal
including transportation, residential fees for students living
in BIE dormitories year round, fire services, and so much more.
If BIE students leave to attend non-BIE schools, then those who
remain at BIE schools will experience exacerbated educational
disparities.
3. Academic Performance.
Another concern NIEA has with this legislation is the academic
comparison between students attending BIE-funded schools and
those attending schools elsewhere. Research shows the school
performance of Native students, particularly in Arizona and
Nevada, has improved when they receive tribally driven
education. With the increase of test scores and proficiency in
an environment that is most natural to Native students, a
continued investment in supporting community driven initiatives
and schools is warranted.
Conclusion
We thank the Committee for holding this hearing. By shining a much
needed light on the issues facing Native education, you help us
continue to raise awareness and garner support for critical issues in
Indian Country on behalf of our students. All of the resolutions that
were referenced in this testimony have also been submitted for the
record. The attention that Native youth and education are receiving
coupled with your innovate ideas for Indian education, has the
potential to make a meaningful impact in the lives of Native students
and their communities. Working together, we are confident that we can
build the collaborative relationships necessary to strengthen tribal
self-determination in education.
Appendix
NIEA RESOLUTION 11-018
TITLE: Requesting the Bureau of Indian Education and Federal
Government to Appropriate Full Funding for the Tribally Controlled
Schools' Facilities Program.
WHEREAS, the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) was
established in 1970 for the purpose of advocating, planning, and
promoting the unique and special educational needs of American Indians,
Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians; and
WHEREAS, NIEA as the largest national Indian organization of
American Indian, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiian educators,
administrators, parents and students in the United States, provides a
forum to discuss and act upon issues affecting the education of Indian
and Native people; and
WHEREAS, through its' unique relationship with Indian nations and
tribes, the Federal Government has established programs and resources
to meet the educational needs of American Indians, Alaska Native and
Native Hawaiians, residing on and off their reserved or non-reserved
homelands; and
WHEREAS, schools operated by tribal governing boards are entitled
to receive facilities funding for the purpose of maintaining and
managing the safety and regulation standards of day to day operations;
and
WHEREAS, the BIE schools (like Na' Neelzhiin Ji Olta') Facilities
Program has been underfunded for several years which interferes with
the maintenance and management of safety and regulation standards of
day to day operations. The lack of funding also hinders boilers for
heat during the winter, cooking appliances, etc. The buildings alone
are quickly deteriorating from age, day to day usage and neglect of
maintenance and repair due to lack of funding; and
WHEREAS, as well as the unsafe conditions, the lack of maintenance
and improvement and repairs to the school, teacher housing also falls
in the same category as the neglect of the school due to underfunding.
Teacher quarters are ``outdated'' unites which need to also be brought
up to standards. With lack of funding, this too, is inadequate; now
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that NIEA hereby requests to the
appropriate entities: Federal Government, Congressmen, Appropriation
committees and Standing Committees to provide full funding of this
program and to cease the constraint immediately for proper management
for the facilities' school wide programs.
Submitted by: Milton Jim
NIEA Resolution 2013-09
TITLE: SUPPORT FOR NATIVE LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION AND REVITILIZATION
WHEREAS, the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) was
established in 1970 for the purpose of advocating, planning, and
promoting the unique and special educational needs of American Indians,
Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians; and
WHEREAS, NIEA, as the largest national Indian organization of
American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian educators,
administrators, parents, and students in the United States, provides a
forum to discuss and act upon issues affecting the education of Indian
and Native people; and
WHEREAS, through its unique relationship with Indian nations and
tribes, the Federal Government has established programs and resources
to meet the educational needs of American Indians, Alaska Natives, and
Native Hawaiians, residing on and off their reserved or non-reserved
homelands; and
WHEREAS, Native language revitalization is a top priority for
tribes, as well as Native education stakeholders and communities; and
WHEREAS, funds to support Native language revitalization efforts
from current sources are insufficient to address the magnitude of need
across the variety of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native
Hawaiian communities committed to expanding their indigenous language
revitalization efforts; and
WHEREAS, research maintains that the learning of English is
improved when one is grounded solidly in the first language from the
home and community; and
WHEREAS, NIEA has always maintained a policy of supporting what is
best for all of Native education and of not pitting one Native
community or segment of the Native community over another; and
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the NIEA will support the
efforts of expanding immersion and language revitalization efforts
within the Elementary and Secondary Education Act but not at the
expense of existing funding and if immersion and language
revitalization efforts are expanded within the Native education title,
funds and resources shall not be allocated from existing programs so
that programs can continue to adequately address the cultural,
linguistic, and educational needs of Native students; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NIEA recommends the expansion of
funds and services to support the core program of student instruction
and to address the critical needs of Native language revitalization
efforts by including teacher training, curriculum development,
evaluation and assessment, and Native parent and community as well as
tribal involvement in a child's education but not at the expense of
current students and programmatic funding.
certification
I do hereby certify that the following resolution was dully
considered and passed by the National Indian Education Association on
November 2, 2013 at which a quorum of the membership was present.
Pam Agoyo President
NIEA Resolution 2013-12
TITLE: SUPPORT OF EARLY LEARNING MEASURES THAT STRENGTHEN NATIVE
CULTURES
WHEREAS, the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) was
established in 1970 for the purpose of advocating, planning, and
promoting the unique and special educational needs of American Indians,
Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians; and
WHEREAS, NIEA, as the largest national Indian organization of
American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian educators,
administrators, parents, and students in the United States, provides a
forum to discuss and act upon issues affecting the education of Indian
and Native people; and
WHEREAS, through its unique relationship with Indian nations and
tribes, the Federal Government has established programs and resources
to meet the educational needs of American Indians, Alaska Natives, and
Native Hawaiians, residing on and off their reserved or non-reserved
homelands; and
WHEREAS, the President's Initiative on Early Education is a
priority in our Native communities and is an opportunity to advance the
unique linguistic and cultural identities of American Indian, Alaska
Native, and Native Hawaiians; and
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the NIEA supports provisions for
the promotion, protection, and use of our Native languages--American
Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian--at the earliest stage of child
development in any federal legislation as a means to reverse language
loss and that set aside funds are established for grant programs for
tribes, tribal, and Native Hawaiian organizations; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NIEA supports the requirement that
states with significant American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native
Hawaiian populations consult with these constituents in the development
of their state plans to ensure appropriate assessments in the language
of instruction, strong family/parent engagement component, and support
for multiple delivery systems are included in the plans.
certification
I do hereby certify that the following resolution was dully
considered and passed by the National Indian Education Association on
November 2, 2013 at which a quorum of the membership was present.
Pam Agoyo President
NIEA Resolution 2013-13
TITLE: SUPPORT OF TITLE VII WITHIN THE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY
EDUCATION ACT (ESEA)
WHEREAS, the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) was
established in 1970 for the purpose of advocating, planning, and
promoting the unique and special educational needs of American Indians,
Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians; and
WHEREAS, NIEA, as the largest national Indian organization of
American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian educators,
administrators, parents, and students in the United States, provides a
forum to discuss and act upon issues affecting the education of Indian
and Native people; and
WHEREAS, through its unique relationship with Indian nations and
tribes, the Federal Government has established programs and resources
to meet the educational needs of American Indians, Alaska Natives, and
Native Hawaiians, residing on and off their reserved or non-reserved
homelands; and
WHEREAS, it is the policy of the United States to fulfill the
Federal Government's unique and continuing trust relationship with and
responsibility to the Native People of the United States for the
education of American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Natives and;
WHEREAS, Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
authorizes programs that serve American Indian, Native Hawaiian and
Alaska Natives, that are of the highest quality and provide for not
only the basic elementary and secondary educational needs, but also the
unique linguistic and culturally related academic needs of American
Indian, Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native students; and
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the NIEA supports the
reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA),
particularly Indian, Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native Education Acts,
so that Native Education is left as a distinct and separate title to
strengthen Native, tribal, and local control over the education of
American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native students; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NIEA does hereby support the
requirement that states with significant numbers of American Indian,
Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian populations be required to consult
with these constituents and create state plans which directly address
the needs of these populations as required under the current Title I of
Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
certification
I do hereby certify that the following resolution was dully
considered and passed by the National Indian Education Association on
November 2, 2013 at which a quorum of the membership was present.
Pam Agoyo President
NIEA Resolution 2014-11
TITLE: SUPPORT FOR CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT CONCERNING THE BUREAU OF
INDIAN EDUCATION RESTRUCTURING AND BLUE PRINT FOR REFORM
WHEREAS, the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) was
established in 1970 for the purpose of advocating, planning, and
promoting the unique and special educational needs of American Indians,
Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians; and
WHEREAS, NIEA, as the largest national Indian organization of
American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian educators,
administrators, parents, and students in the United States, provides a
forum to discuss and act upon issues affecting the education of Indian
and Native people; and
WHEREAS, through its unique relationship with Indian nations and
tribes, the Federal Government has established programs and resources
to meet the educational needs of American Indians, Alaska Natives, and
Native Hawaiians, residing on and off their reserved or non-reserved
homelands; and
WHEREAS, the Obama Administration has asserted broad executive
authority in implementing the U.S. Department of the Interior
Secretarial Order to Transform the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) as
based on recommendations of the American Indian Education Study Group's
Blueprint for Reform; and
WHEREAS, there is broad based concern throughout Indian country,
and with treaty tribes in particular, that the BIE realignment is
creating statutory conflicts and being implemented without a
congressional authorization and without congressional oversight; and
WHEREAS, The Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell has not
appeared before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs to provide
details concerning the BIE restructuring, nor has the Secretary
provided congressional appropriations committees with a detailed budget
request to pay for the restructuring; and
WHEREAS, Administration officials have erroneously testified to the
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs that there is no opposition from
Indian country concerning the Blueprint for Reform; and
WHEREAS, to meet the Federal Government's continuing trust
responsibility and assess measurable trust standards in the field of
Indian education including the entire trust corpus for treaty-based
educational rights delivered through the BIE, it is essential that
committees of jurisdiction in both the U.S. House of Representatives
and U. S. Senate provide congressional oversight on executive actions
concerning the BIE;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Indian Education
Association directs the Board and Executive Director to request a
congressional investigation into the Bureau of Indian Education
restructuring and Blueprint for Reform to ascertain if the Secretarial
Order creates a statutory conflict and to document Department of the
Interior proposed offsets to pay for the restructuring; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the National Indian Education
Association directs the Board and Executive Director to request
oversight hearings by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and House
Education and Workforce Committee and House Committee on Natural
Resources and other appropriate congressional committees regarding the
Bureau of Indian Education restructuring and Blueprint for Reform.
certification
I do hereby certify that the following resolution was dully
considered and passed by the National Indian Education Association on
October 18, 2014 at which a quorum of the membership was present.
Melvin Monette President
NIEA Resolution 2014-17
TITLE: SUPPORT CREATION OF A BUREAU OF INDIAN EDUCATION TRIBAL
BUDGET TASK FORCE
WHEREAS, the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) was
established in 1970 for the purpose of advocating, planning, and
promoting the unique and special educational needs of American Indians,
Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians; and
WHEREAS, NIEA, as the largest national Indian organization of
American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian educators,
administrators, parents, and students in the United States, provides a
forum to discuss and act upon issues affecting the education of Indian
and Native people; and
WHEREAS, through its unique relationship with Indian nations and
tribes, the Federal Government has established programs and resources
to meet the educational needs of American Indians, Alaska Natives, and
Native Hawaiians, residing on and off their reserved or non-reserved
homelands; and
WHEREAS, the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) directly oversees a
total of 183 elementary, secondary, residential and peripheral
dormitories across 23 states that serve roughly 41,000 Indian students
living on or near reservations; and
WHEREAS, BIE's mission is to provide Indian students quality
educational opportunities starting in early childhood in accordance
with a tribe's need for cultural and economic well-being; and
WHEREAS, the high school graduation rate for BIE students in 2011
was 61 percent, placing BIE in the bottom half among graduation rates
for Indian students attending public schools in states where BIE
schools are located; and
WHEREAS, BIE schools are primarily funded through the Department of
the Interior, however, it also receives annual formula grants from the
Department of Education, similar to public schools; and
WHEREAS, the structure of funding and administrative bureaucracy
for the BIE is causing significant challenges for the BIE and Indian
schools to improve student academic performance; and
WHEREAS, while the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), which oversees
funding for the BIE, has undertaken another realignment of its
administrative functions, it is unclear to what extent, if at all, the
changes will result in improved services for BIE and its schools; and
WHEREAS, the BIA implemented its most recent realignment without
seeking input from a broad range of education and BIE stakeholders; and
WHEREAS, the BIA failed to develop a strategic plan with specific
goals and measures for itself or BIE or strategies to achieve goals;
and
WHEREAS, the BIA has not updated its workforce plan or assessed
Indian Affairs' realignment and its impact on BIE to ensure the agency
has the right staff in place with the appropriate skills to effectively
meet the needs of BIE schools and their ability to serve Native
students; and
WHEREAS, the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO)
released a report to Congress in September 2013 highlighting issues
reducing the effectiveness of the BIE and proposed possible methods to
increase effectiveness; and
WHEREAS, the GAO stated in that same report that it intends to
issue a second report that will compare funding and expenditures for
BIE schools to those of nearby public schools;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that NIEA does hereby call for the
establishment of a Tribal/Federal Task Force (Task Force) comprised of
tribal leaders and federal agency representatives to study the funding
constraints BIE schools face as well as investigate appropriate
measures to be taken in order to address such concerns culminated into
a final report; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that NIEA supports that this Task Force be
comprised of representation from NIEA, the National Congress of
American Indians (NCAI), the American Indian Higher Education
Consortium (AIHEC), the Tribal Education Departments National Assembly
(TEDNA), the BIA, and the Department of Education (ED) to complete the
study and provide recommendations for next steps to be taken and
potential solutions, such as the impacts of shifting funding streams
from the BIA to the BIE so that administrative functions and funding
allocations are held strictly within the BIE; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that any potential solutions considered,
such as the one aforementioned, must take into account all benefits and
consequences arising from each; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the NIEA does hereby request that the
findings from the Task Force report be disseminated to tribes and their
education agencies, the Secretaries of the Interior and Education, the
White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education,
and Congress.
certification
I do hereby certify that the following resolution was dully
considered and passed by the National Indian Education Association on
October 18, 2014 at which a quorum of the membership was present.
Melvin Monette President
National Indian Education Association (NIEA)
November 10, 2015
The Honorable Sally Jewell,
Secretary,
U.S. Department of the Interior,
Washington, DC.
Re: In Support of the Bureau of Indian Education's
Reorganization
Dear Secretary Jewell,
On behalf of the National Indian Education Association (NIEA), the
largest and oldest Native organization representing over 2,500 Native
educators, students, teachers, parents, and tribal leaders, we thank
you for your leadership and support on Native education. NIEA has been
cautiously optimistic of the reorganization efforts of the Bureau of
Indian Education's (BIE) Blueprint for Reform. As such, we have
participated in several consultations regarding the Reform in hopes to
maximize transparency and meaningful tribal engagement for our
membership.
The importance of such a Reform is both vital and urgent. As you
have said in the past, Secretary Jewell, ``Indian education is an
embarrassment to you and to us.'' Native students lag far behind their
peers on every educational indicator, from academic achievement to
college and career ready. According to the 2011 National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP), Native students scored significantly lower
than their peers on both reading and mathematics in grades 4 and 8.
Sadly, the recently released 2015 NAEP data shows no improvement.
Furthermore, as the national high school graduation rate reaches an
all-time high of 81 percent, BIE schools have an overall graduation
rate of 53 percent. This discrepancy is only widening. Now is the time
for everyone to stand together, committed to fully investing and
supporting this nation's most vulnerable youth. As such, NIEA is
formally extending our support for the proposed BIE Reform.
Reports have consistently highlighted the importance of increased
tribal engagement in Native education. The first evaluation of formal
education for American Indian people occurred in 1928. The study, known
as the Meriam Report, harshly criticized the condition of Indian
schools and recommended to incorporate essential aspects of Indian life
and culture into the curriculum. Thirty years later, President Kennedy
pushed for a report entitled, ``Indian Education: A National Tragedy--A
National Challenge,'' which vehemently criticized the assimilation
polices of the federal school system for Indian students. One of the
three key recommendations produced by this report was to increase
tribal control in education policies. After eighty years of evidence,
the movement that the BIE is taking towards increased self-
determination and self- governance in the education of Native students
is long overdue.
However, as efforts to reorganize the BIE move forward, they must
be done with caution and be mindful of the established trust
responsibility which exits between tribes and the Federal Government.
Through treaties, federal law, and U.S. Supreme Court decisions, the
Federal Government has a moral and fiduciary obligation toward parity
in access and equitable resources to Native education. The Reform will
only succeed if BIE continues to move forward with a solid foundation
of the trust relationship and an inclusive, cooperative framework of
tribes and local stakeholders. From that vantage, NIEA provides the
following guidance:
1. Clarification on authority for the Reform. Tribes have
repeatedly questioned whether BIE has the base authority to move
forward with the Reform based on the Tribally Controlled Schools Act
(P.L. 100-297). NIEA has requested an opinion from the DOI's Office of
the Solicitor on this matter. However, an opinion has not yet been
provided.
2. BIE-focused budget advisory committee. NIEA recommends the
formation of a tribal budget advisory committee focused specifically on
BIE issues to advise the Department of Interior (DOI) on educational
issues. Although the Tribal-Interior Budget Council (TBIC) provides an
avenue for tribal input on budget issues, TBIC focuses on all issues
relevant to Indian Country and therefore lacks the education-specific
knowledge required to help transform Native education. A tribal
education advisory committee would establish an important point of
contact for tribal leaders and tribal educators. Such a committee would
be effectively positioned to make recommendations to address both BIE
and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) educational activities.
3. Increased transparency during the BIE Reform. As requested, BIE
has provided the proposed offsets designated to cover the 2016 Reform
budget as well as the revised program and line office changes. NIEA
encourages that this transparency continue and that BIE provide the
Phase 2 budget for 2017 as well as a timeline for completion of the
Reform as soon as possible.
4. Adhering to GAO recommendation. Through recently released GAO
reports, there have been a number of areas identified as needing
reform--many of which involve responsibilities that are directly
assigned to the BIA. As such, follow-up is needed, which involves both
BIE and BIA officials in order to facilitate dialogue regarding BIE
reform and to determine how communication can be strengthened between
the two agencies. NIEA requests that the BIE provide an update on how
they are addressing each of the GAO recommendations for better
interagency cooperation.
5. Assurance of job security. As the BIE works with tribes to
increase their capacity to run and operate BIE schools directly,
current BIE employees, including the 3,000 teachers and school
administrators must be provided an assurance of job security. NIEA is
requesting a plan from BIE on job retention, placement, and re-training
should the tribe ultimately decide to make significant staffing
changes.
The BIE Reform process as well as the attention that Native youth
and education are receiving, has the potential to make a meaningful
impact in the lives of Native students and their communities. Working
together, we are confident that we can build the collaborative
relationships necessary to strengthen tribal self-determination in
education. NIEA will be sharing our support and guidance for the BIE
Reformwith Congress and tribal leaders.
Sincerely,
Patricia Whitefoot,
President.
The Chairman. Thank you very much. We look forward to the
questioning. We will submit all of that for the record. Thank
you, Ms. Whitefoot.
Dr. Boham.
STATEMENT OF SANDRA BOHAM, Ed.D., PRESIDENT, SALISH KOOTENAI
COLLEGE
Dr. Boham. Mr. Chairman Barrasso and Committee, thank you
for having me here today.
As Senator Tester already said, my name is Dr. Sandra
Boham. I am an enrolled member of the Confederated Salish and
Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation and President of
Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, Montana.
On behalf of my college and the Nation's 36 other tribal
colleges and universities, I would like to offer testimony on
two bills today, S. 2304 and S. 2468. My comments for the other
two bills are also included in the written testimony.
First, I would like to thank Senators Tester and Daines for
all the work they do on behalf of our seven tribal colleges in
Montana and all the Native people of the State. We value their
commitment and hope to continue working with them as we move
forward.
As tribal colleges, we support both S. 2304 and S. 2468. We
urge the Committee to favorably report these bills. As an
Indian educator, I urge you to take action. Our children cannot
continue to wait.
First is S. 2304. There is no other group of young people
more at risk in this country today in Indian country. Our
Native children are involved with gangs at a higher rate than
any other racial group. Our youth have the highest suicide
rates in the country, 2.5 times the national average.
Our children suffer one of the highest rates of abuse and
neglect in the Nation and most often will be found living below
the poverty line which means our children often go to bed
hungry. We have the highest dropout rate in the country.
These statistics are not acceptable and we cannot continue
to tolerate them. As a Nation, we have to do better. Tribal
colleges are leading the way in this effort.
Oglala Lakota College and Aaniiih Nakoda Colleges are both
running high achieving Native language immersion schools on
their campuses without funding from the BIE or their State.
Salish Kootenai College, along with most of the tribal
colleges and universities are managing day care programs on
their campuses without additional funding. At least two tribal
colleges have taken over failing Head Start programs,
revitalized dilapidated facilities and introduced culturally
relevant educational programming.
Sitting Bull College established an innovative
intergenerational Lakota immersion program for its daycare and
preschool.
All the tribal colleges are doing Saturday academies,
summer and after school enrichment programs. Sixteen of the
tribal colleges, including SKC, are partnering with BIE schools
to raise high school completion rates and to develop a college-
going culture.
These are just a few examples of the way TCUs are
transforming the educational and life experience of children
through a holistic continuum of culturally-based education. My
written testimony contains two broader comments related to TCUs
we would ask you to consider as you discuss legislation such as
S. 2304. I will mention just one now, the need to reestablish
the tribal colleges Head Start Partnership Program.
We ask that Congress allocate up to $8 million of the $10
billion that the Head Start Program gets to reestablish the
highly successful Head Start TCU Partnership Program which
would provide scholarships and stipends for Indian Head Start
workers to get training and certification.
Far less than half of all workers in Native serving Head
Start facilities meet the required national minimum standards
of educational training today. However, when the Head Start TCU
Program existed between 2000 and 2007, TCUs trained more than
400 workers.
Native children deserve qualified teachers and aides. We
urge you to reestablish this vital program. Taking action would
not cost a penny but it will make a lifetime difference to our
children.
S. 2468, the SAFETY Act, will help address one of the basic
needs of any school or college and in doing so, will enable
tribal colleges to serve more students and help tribes grow
their workforces. In 2009, tribal colleges had $100 million in
shovel ready construction and rehab projects, including
academic facilities, faculty and student housing.
I mentioned that the Federal Government's modest investment
in tribal colleges has a tremendous return. We have established
early childhood, elementary and secondary education programs at
the Bachelor's degree level at Salish Kootenai College. We know
students do better when they have teachers who come from their
communities and look like them.
I have been a lifelong educator. I graduated from St.
Ignatius High School, got degrees at the University of Montana
and Montana State University. That sounds really easy but it
was not. It took me eight years of taking summer classes to get
my Master's degree and another 25 before I completed my
doctoral degree.
I have worked in a women's prison, in Job Corps, at a
mainstream university and other mainstream colleges. I started
working at SKC when we were teaching in basements and vacant
buildings before we had a campus. I came back and worked with
Upward Bound and Gear Up and I was the director of an Indian
education program in a public school district for eight years.
My education and professional experiences cover a continuum
of education. One thing has been constant: my identity as a
tribal member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
I make every effort I can to try and keep that connection
for our students and our children because we know that strength
and identity and a solid educational background is what is
going to make them the most successful.
In conclusion, we recognize and greatly appreciate the
ongoing support of this Committee. We ask you to continue your
support as we bring educational excellence to the communities
and students we serve.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Boham follows:]
Prepared Statement of Sandra Boham, Ed.D., President, Salish Kootenai
College
Mr. Chairman and distinguished members of the Committee, my name is
Dr. Sandra Boham. I am an enrolled Confederated Salish and Kootenai
tribal member; President of Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, Montana;
and a member of the Board of Directors of the American Indian Higher
Education Consortium (AIHEC). On behalf of my institution, Salish
Kootenai College, the six other Tribal Colleges in Montana and the 30
other TCUs throughout the country, which collectively are AIHEC, thank
you for inviting me to testify at this hearing on four bills seeking to
enhance American Indian and Alaska Native education.
While four legislative initiatives are included in today's hearing,
my testimony will specifically address two: S. 2304, which provides for
tribal demonstration projects to integrate certain early childhood
programs, and S. 2468, the SAFETY Act, which would provide modest--yet
vitally needed--funding for Indian education facility construction.
It is an honor to speak with the members of this Committee about
these two pieces of legislation and to share with you a little about
the important work that Tribal Colleges are doing to transform Indian
Country. First, however, I want to thank Senator Tester for his
tremendous work on behalf of the seven tribes in Montana, our seven
Tribal Colleges, and all Native people. We appreciate Senator Tester's
commitment to working collaboratively with Tribal Colleges to
addressing our collective mission of improving the lives of our
students through higher education and moving American Indians toward
self-sufficiency.
My statement will touch on two topics: first, Tribal College
recommendations regarding S. 2304 and S. 2468; and second, the
accomplishments and challenges of Tribal Colleges in bringing high
quality, culturally appropriate education opportunities to our students
and culturally centered programs to our communities.
Recommendations Regarding S. 2304 and S. 2468
The nation's Tribal Colleges and Universities, through our
collective organization, AIHEC, support and encourage swift enactment
of S. 2304 and S. 2468:
S. 2304, Tribal Early Childhood, Education, and Related Services
Integration Act
There is no other group of young people more at risk in this
country today than American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children
and youth. Native kids are more likely to be involved with gangs than
any other racial population (National Council on Crime and Delinquency,
2009); Native youth have the highest suicide rate in the country, 2.5
times the national average (U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease
Control, 2010); Native children suffer one of the highest rates of
child abuse and neglect in the nation: 11.4 per 1,000 AI/AN children
(Children's Bureau, 2012); we have the highest poverty rate in the
nation (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2009), which means many of our
children go to bed hungry; and Native kids have the highest high school
dropout rate in the country.
These statistics describe a situation that cannot be tolerated. As
a nation, we can and must do better. Tribal Colleges are already
leading the way: Oglala Lakota College and Aaniiih Nakoda College are
running high achieving Native language immersion schools on their
campuses without funding from the BIE or the state; Salish Kootenai
College, along with most of the TCUs are managing our own day care
centers at considerable cost to the college every year because students
often cannot afford to pay; OLC and Cankdeska Cikana Community College
each took over failing Head Start programs and revitalized dilapidated
facilities and introduced culturally relevant programming; Sitting Bull
College established an innovative intergenerational Lakota immersion
program for its day care center and pre-school; nearly 20 TCUs are
conducting Indigenous, community-based participatory research on
behavior health needs in the community; all TCUs are running Saturday
academies, summer and after-school enrichment programs; and 16 TCUs,
including SKC, are partnering with BIE schools to raise high school
completion rates and develop a college-bound culture; Sitting Bull
College has a model summer Native Language Institute--professional
development for all pre-K-12 teachers (and anyone else who is
interested and committed) on the Standing Rock Reservation that has
proven so successful that at least three other TCUs are now
implementing the model on their own reservations. We are doing much
more--these are just a few examples of the strategies TCUs are
implementing and integrating to transform the educational and life
experience of our children through a holistic continuum of culturally-
based education.
We are pleased that S. 2304 includes Tribal Colleges, and we would
like to make two broader, yet relevant, recommendations to address the
needs of our youngest learners:
(1) Recognize the Inherent Role of TCUs in Training Educators
of Native Learners: Congress should specifically and clearly
reinforce the lead role of Tribal Colleges in the U.S.
Department of Education's Professional Development Program
(American Indian Teacher Preparation) by requiring applicants
to have as a key component of their program a partnership with
one or more TCUs designed to increase the number of American
Indian/Alaska Native teachers and administrators serving tribal
communities and provide a minimum of $10,000,000 to fund these
critically needed competitively awarded grants.
TCUs need to be recognized and adequately supported so that
they can continue to play a fundamental role in developing a
critical mass of educators for Native learners. As Tribal
institutions, TCUs should be the primary training sites for
pre-service and in-service educators who work with Native
learners. Since the primary goal of Professional Development
for American Indian Teachers/Administrators program is to
increase the number of effective Indian teachers and
administrators for schools with large Indian populations, the
TCUs need to be lead institutions in the efforts funded under
this program.
(2) Expand the TCU-Head Start Partnership Program: Congress
should allocate up to $8 million of the $10 billion Head Start
Program to reestablish the highly successful Head Start-TCU
Partnership Program, which would provide scholarships and
stipends for Indian Head Start workers to get vitally needed
training and certification.
With the reauthorization of the Head Start program in the mid-
1990s, Congress imposed new performance and professional
competency requirements. Specifically, at least 50 percent of
Head Start teachers nationwide were to have a baccalaureate or
advanced degree in Early Childhood Education or a baccalaureate
or advanced degree in any subject and coursework equivalent to
a major relating to early childhood education with experience
teaching preschool-age children, and 50 percent of all teacher
assistants were to have an associate degree or enrolled in an
associate degree program. While we may be prepared to declare
that this nationwide goal has been achieved, far less than half
of Head Start teachers in the American Indian/Alaska Native
Head Start Program area hold an associate or bachelor's degree.
AI/AN children deserve the best, and the TCUs are ideal
catalysts for preparing Indian Head Start teachers so that they
might offer these children the Head Start programs they
deserve. We know this is true because from 2000 to 2007, the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provided modest
funding for the TCU-Head Start Program, which helped TCUs build
capacity in early childhood education by provided scholarships
and stipends for Indian Head Start teachers and teacher's aides
to enroll in TCU early childhood programs. Before the program
ended in 2007 (ironically, the same year that Congress
specifically authorized the program in the Head Start Act),
TCUs had trained more than 400 Head Start workers, many of whom
have since left to higher paying jobs in elementary schools.
S. 2468, Safe Academic Facilities and Environments for Tribal Youth Act
(SAFETY Act)
All children, no matter where they go to school, deserve to have
safe, high quality learning environments. Feeling safe, being warm, and
having clean drinking water are fundamental to a quality learning
environment. Yet, many American Indian and Alaska Native students
attend schools that lack even these basic requirements, and when
tribes, states, or even Tribal Colleges step in with repairs or
rehabilitation, the school risks being removed from the BIE repair
list. Meanwhile, Tribal Colleges operating Head Start programs for
their tribes are taking out loans for which the college itself is
responsible and forgoing higher education construction to rehabilitate
classrooms for our youngest children. If the TCU did not do this,
another generation of young American Indian children would be forced to
begin their educational path in rundown, unsafe, sometimes rodent
infested educational facilities.
We need an accurate accounting of the facilities needs of schools
serving AI/AN youth, early childhood through postsecondary, and more
important, we need reliable and equitable resources to begin addressing
these needs.
The SAFETY Act will help address one of the most basic needs of any
education institution and in so doing, will enable TCUs to provide more
students with the opportunity to complete a degree program and help our
tribes grow their Native workforce and advance the economies of Indian
Country. In 2009, TCUs had at least $100 million in shovel-ready
construction and rehabilitation projects, including Science, Career/
Technical, and other academic facilities; student and faculty housing;
and libraries, day care centers, and wellness centers. Recent surveys
show that the need persists in all of these areas. To continue to
provide high quality, culturally relevant postsecondary education
opportunities, all TCUs must continue to build and expand their
facilities and infrastructure.
We look forward to working with Senator Tester and the Members of
this Committee toward enactment of S. 2304 and S. 2468 and other
important measures related to excellence, safety, and success for all
American Indian and Alaska Native students.
Background: The Tribal College Movement
Mr. Chairman, as I mentioned earlier, I am an enrolled Confederated
Salish and Kootenai tribal member. I am also a lifelong educator. I was
raised in St. Ignatius, Montana--I am a graduate of St. Ignatius High
School. I earned undergraduate and doctorate degrees from the
University of Montana and in between, a graduate degree from Montana
State University. Sounds tidy and smooth when I say it like that. But
it was not: it took me about eight years, taking summer classes, to
earn my master's degree after college. Another 25 years passed before I
completed my Ph.D. In between, I worked across the educational
spectrum: I taught in a women's prison, a Job Corps site, and
mainstream colleges. I also worked at Salish Kootenai College, first in
its early days when there were no buildings and classes were taught
anywhere we could find a spot--including a church basement, empty
buildings, and shared facilities. (So I have experienced, first hand,
the need for legislation like the SAFETY Act.) I came back to work at
SKC years later for the college's Gear Up and TRIO programs, reaching
out to high school and middle school students. I also worked in an
urban state public school system in Montana, and finally, I came home
to Salish Kootenai College as an administrator. My professional life
spans the continuum of learning.
Throughout my life and career, one thing has remained constant: my
identity as a Salish and Kootenai tribal member. No matter where I was,
it was important to remain connected to my tribe and community and to
nurture that connection with my children. My children danced in pow
wows, and we even formed our own family drum group to keep our songs
and stories alive. As parents, my husband and I took these steps to
ensure that our children never questioned their identity; but many
parents cannot do this. They do not have the resources, or maybe they
have lost touch with their own tribal identity. It's important for our
schools to fill this gap, because without the strength of identity, it
is difficult for our children to succeed in education. A strong
connection to tribal culture and language is critical. I noticed that
many young Native students were missing this connection when I went to
work for the Great Falls Public School System. The Indian community was
isolated, even from one another. We were losing many students. So we
started drumming and singing. We reconnected. When I left Great Falls
to come back to SKC, 125 students were singing and five drum groups had
been formed. Our youth are finding their identity.
Tribal Colleges make this connection every day, one student at a
time. We build confidence, self-esteem, and identity: at SKC and all
TCUs, our students learn our stories and songs, our history and our
language, and from these, they gain the courage, the tools and the
confidence to shape a better world on our own land. Being around other
tribal students and experiencing education from a Native perspective
brings a connection to family and culture that is critical to the
success of our students. As some of the most poorly funded institutions
of higher education in the country, our struggle is a daily one, but
our successes are generational. We are changing the lives and future of
our students and their families through nurturing educational
environments that are culturally-based and uniquely relevant to our
students, we are building stronger and more prosperous Tribal nations
through the restoration of our languages, community outreach programs
and applied research on issues relevant to our land and our people,
workforce training in fields critical to our reservation communities,
and community-centered economic development and entrepreneurial
programs. TCUs are a vital and essential component of the AI/AN
education continuum.
Currently, 37 TCUs operate more than 75 campuses and sites in 16
states, within whose geographic boundaries 80 percent of all American
Indian reservations and federal Indian trust land lie. We serve
students from well over 250 federally recognized tribes, 85 percent of
whom receive federal financial aid. In total, TCUs annually serve more
than 160,000 AIs/ANs through a wide variety of academic and community-
based programs. In Montana, 50 percent of all American Indians enrolled
in higher education attend one of seven TCUs in our state. In fact,
according to all available statistics on American Indians enrolled in
federally recognized Indian tribes and currently engaged in higher
education nationally, more than 50 percent attend TCUs. \1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ This statistic excludes self-reporting, which despite having
been shown in studies to be unreliable, is the measure used by the
Department of Education's White House Initiative on American Indian and
Alaska Native Education.
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TCUs are public institutions accredited by independent, regional
accreditation agencies and like all U.S. institutions of higher
education must periodically undergo stringent performance reviews to
retain their accreditation status. Currently, all TCUs offer associate
degrees; 13 TCUs offer multiple bachelor's degrees, and five TCUs offer
master's degrees. Each TCU is committed to improving the lives of its
students through higher education and to moving American Indians toward
self-sufficiency.
Tribal Colleges are first and foremost academic institutions, but
because of the number of challenges facing Indian Country--high
unemployment, poorly developed economies, poor health status, and lack
of stable community infrastructures, our colleges are called upon to do
much more than provide higher education services. TCUs often run
entrepreneurial and business development centers; many TCUs are the
primary GED and Adult Basic Education provider on our reservations, and
most if not all TCUs provide a variety of evening, weekend training and
para-professional programs for tribal employees, BIA and IHS staff, K-
12 schools, tribal courts and justice system staff, and many others.
TCUs run day care centers and Head Start programs, health nutrition
education programs, community gardens, and often, the community library
and tribal museum or archives.
Perhaps most important, Salish Kootenai College and all of the TCUs
are actively and aggressively working to preserve and sustain their own
tribal language and culture. All TCUs offer Native language courses. In
some cases, the tribal language would have been completely lost if not
for the local Tribal College. Turtle Mountain Community College in
Belcourt, North Dakota, was established primarily for this purpose, and
over the years, its success in writing and revitalizing the Turtle
Mountain Chippewa language has been remarkable. As I mentioned earlier,
Aaniiih Nakoda College in Harlem, Montana runs a K-8 language immersion
school, right on campus. At the White Clay Immersion School, children
learn the White Clay language and culture in addition to subjects they
would routinely study at any other school. One of our goals at Salish
Kootenai College is to launch a high school on our campus to improve
high school and college completion rates among our youth.
AIHEC recently commissioned an internationally known economic
impact firm to investigate the TCU return on investment: for every $1
the federal government invests, taxpayers get at least $2.40 back--with
an average annual rate of return of 6.2 percent. Students get $4.20
back for every dollar they invest; and tribes, states/regions receive a
$5.20 return for every dollar. Further, TCUs save the federal
government nearly $200 million every year in social program savings,
and our alumni generate at least $2.3 billion in added income every
year. This number is actually much higher, but it is the best data we
have currently.
In closing, Mr. Chairman, we recognize and greatly appreciate the
ongoing support of this Committee. Now, more than ever, we need to
strengthen our commitment to action. TCUs are sound and stable tribal
institutions; TCUs have a proven high return on investment; TCUs are
transforming Indian Country. We ask for your support as we continue to
bring educational excellence to the students and communities we serve.
Thank you.
The Chairman. Thank you to each of you for your compelling
testimony today. We will now start with a round of questions.
First will be Senator McCain.
Senator McCain. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for your
courtesy.
Mr. Roberts, is it true that 50 percent of BIE students do
not graduate?
Mr. Roberts. I believe it is, Senator.
Senator McCain. Is it true that BIE student test scores
trail by double digits compared to the Native American students
who attend public schools?
Mr. Roberts. I believe that is true also, Senator.
Senator McCain. Here we have a proposal to allow, if the
parents desire, another opportunity to provide their children
with an education.
Overall, Senator Begay, do you believe the Navajo families
are satisfied with BIE schools?
Mr. Begay. I think your indication of the five out of ten
students attending BIE schools do not graduate from high school
is a startling statistic. What if we could give ESAs to those
students who would not have made it to graduation otherwise?
The Navajo Nation, St. Michael Indian School has been on
the Navajo Nation since 1902. They have a 99 percent graduation
rate; 98 percent of their graduating class goes on to some
post-secondary institution.
Essentially, this is a time where we should not focus on
the systems of education but rather focus on empowering Native
American families to choose. I think the term choose is
rightfully a correct term to use because no one is forcing
Native American families out of BIE schools. This is a choice
they would make themselves and they have the choice to come
back. This is an opportunity in the true essence of
opportunity, a form of self-determination.
Senator McCain. Ms. Whitefoot says that another concern
NIEA has with this legislation is the academic comparison
between students attending BIE funded schools and those
attending schools elsewhere.
I think that is a real concern, Ms. Whitefoot. That is the
reason why we are looking at Senator Begay's proposal. That is
a terrible comparison. In fact, only 50 percent, and Mr.
Roberts agrees, of BIE students graduate.
Believe me, I am not surprised at your opposition. I have
never met anyone associated with your organization who would
give parents and children an opportunity to leave a school that
has a 50 percent graduation rate.
I am not surprised but I think it is very hard to allege
that somehow the infrastructure would be harmed if a student
now costing $15,000 a year for a BIE school to attend another
school such as St. Michael on the Navajo Reservation which
graduates 99 percent of their students.
I certainly am not surprised at your opposition. I would be
astounded if you did. I have never seen an organization such as
yours support an opportunity for Native American children or
American children to have another opportunity.
Senator Begay, have you talked to other tribal members and
the tribal council about this proposal of yours? Have you had a
conversation with the tribal leadership?
Mr. Begay. Yes, we have. There has not been any formal
positions of support by tribal governments themselves but
tribal leaders have come out in support of the proposal.
I think it is important to mention that it is important to
continue to support our public and BIE schools across the
country. They are truly doing the best they can with the
limited resources they do have but we do not have time to fight
and we do not have the luxury of fighting over educational
systems versus school choice options.
I will give you one example. There is a school near the
Navajo Nation that has a graduating class this year of 62 high
school seniors, only 4 of the high school seniors right now
have a GPA of over 3.0.
What do we expect for the future of this community? Should
we not give them the option or choice for an alternative or an
opportunity to empower themselves or their families to enroll
in online schools, to enroll in home tutoring or to enroll in
private schools if that is something they choose to do?
This is a choice and I think this is truly an essence of
what self determination is by empowering Native American
families to decide what they think is in the best interest of
their own child.
Senator McCain. Mr. Roberts, I think it is really
remarkable that according to GAO the last time the BIE
inspected the safety of a BIE school in Arizona was in 2011.
Maybe you can supply for the record a rationale. Five years
have elapsed and there has not been a safety investigation of a
BIE school.
I will let you respond right now if you would like.
Mr. Roberts. Sure, Senator. I am happy to provide that
information for the record. I do want to say that when that GAO
report came out, it was obviously very concerning to me as
well.
We will, I pledge to this Committee and I pledged to the
House Appropriations Committee as well, that we will have every
school inspected this year. Not only that, it is in the
performance plans. After that report came out, we put it in the
performance plans of every regional director that those be
inspected. We are hiring seven new inspectors that will be
reporting to the Director of BIE.
I appreciate your concerns.
Senator McCain. I am really happy to hear that you are
going to take those actions. Has anyone been fired for the fact
that it has been five years?
Mr. Roberts. No one has been fired, Senator.
Senator McCain. Mr. Chairman, I ask your indulgence. Mr.
Roberts wanted to respond to something else I said.
The Chairman. Yes, certainly.
Mr. Roberts. Senator, as I said in the opening statement, I
think we are with you on the goals of your legislation. A
concern that we have is that we have a number of schools of the
183 schools that BIE administers, 122 have less than 300
students and 50 have fewer than 150 students.
Our concern is that if money is removed from BIE to support
these accounts, the cost per student will rise because many of
these schools have only say one third grade class, so if you
take four kids out of a 15-kid class for fourth grade, the cost
per student is going to rise. BIE is going to be without those
resources. That is a concern.
The other concern is that while those funds are transferred
to private accounts, at the end of the process, if it is a
tribally-operated school, we are going to have to go back to
that tribe, take that money and transfer it to the State. We
also have questions about that.
I just wanted to let you know that a lot of our schools are
small schools. We appreciate the goals you are trying to put
forward but the impacts on the students in BIE schools is
concerning.
Senator McCain. I thank you for that. I understand your
concern. I think a lot of us are also fiscally conservatives
but when you have a 50 percent graduation rate, we are going to
have to think outside the box.
I have been a member of this Committee for many, many
years. We have not seen a significant improvement. It is not
because of dedicated men and women who work in these BIE
schools but it is a system, I think, that deserves some new
approaches.
I would suggest that Senator Begay has come up with a
proposal that deserves all of our consideration. Hopefully
thanks to this hearing, Mr. Chairman, maybe we could work to
resolve some of those concerns you have.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator McCain.
Senator Franken?
Senator Franken. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Roberts, as you know, the children at the Bug-O-Nay-Ge-
Shig School at Leech Lake have faced horrendous conditions in
their classrooms for years. While this took a number of years,
I am glad that I can finally get some good news which is we are
going to begin replacing, as I understand, the school.
Yesterday, your agency announced a plan to put nearly $12
million into fixing and improving the Bug School, the high
school. Thank you. Please extend my sincere thanks to Secretary
Jewell.
This took a lot of work from lawmakers, the tribe and the
Obama Administration and I am thrilled that we have taken this
huge step toward rebuilding the school and after so many years,
we are able to claim victory.
Going back to 2009, I have been fighting for funding to fix
the school. The facility has mold, leaks, was cold,
structurally unsound, the kids had to run from the school if
the wind exceeded 40 miles an hour, sometimes in 20 degree
below weather, to another building because it was a pole barn
that was not structurally sound.
I want to make sure that the process of fixing the Bug-O-
Nay-Ge-Shig School moves quickly and efficiently. Can you give
me your assurances there will be no obstacles in getting this
funding to the school this year?
Mr. Roberts. Senator, I will do everything I can to make
sure this building gets replaced and that the money gets out
this year. We have the money to do it. We want to get it
replaced. We do not want to get it fixed. We want it replaced
and we are going to work as closely as we can with the tribe to
get that done as quickly as we can.
Senator Franken. Thank you. I just want to make sure there
are no hurdles for replacing the school.
Senator McCain talked about the success rate at BIE
schools. It seems to me this is so circular. I have discussed
this at so many of our Committee hearings where we have
unemployment in some of these tribes.
Dr. Boham talked about the suicide rate. If you look at the
housing on the reservations I have been to, there are
shortages, substandard, families living with other families,
the incidence of children living with other families being
exposed to trauma, sexual assault, neglect, drug abuse,
witnessing those things and witnessing domestic violence.
Unemployment rates on reservations are as high as 65 to 75
percent.
This is not all about the schools. Ms. Whitefoot and Dr.
Boham, I want to ask you about housing, trying to get teachers
to come, trying to get a teacher to convince his or her spouse
to come and bring their children when the housing is
substandard.
Can you talk to that issue and the discussion we have had
today about failure and success rates at schools because this
is not as simple as it sometimes is made to sound. Can you
speak to that, Dr. Boham and Ms. Whitefoot?
Dr. Boham. Mr. Chairman and Senator Franken, yes, it is a
very complicated and interconnected set of issues because they
are community issues. Yes, our reservation is situated better
than many but it is an issue to find housing to recruit,
particularly people with Master's and doctoral degrees for
tribal colleges to come and be faculty.
Many of us have started training elementary, preschool and
secondary teachers from the community so that they will be
interested to stay in the community and are grounded there
already.
As people move into an area, in our area, for example, many
of the houses that were in home ownership have gone into
foreclosure, so we have a large number of homes that are for
sale. Those people then moved into the rental market. That
closed a great deal of the rental market to students.
We do have student housing on our campus. We have some
dorms and we have family housing but there is a moratorium
right now for building any additional student housing because
the Pablo City and Water Company does not have adequate water.
Senator Franken. Can I get the more general feeling of
Indian country, Ms. Whitefoot?
Ms. Whitefoot. Last year, this Committee heard testimony
from Chairwoman Karen Diver of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake
Superior Chippewa in Minnesota. She testified that close to 20
percent of her tribe's service population lives in overcrowded
homes. This is not unusual to this particular tribe; it is all
over Indian country.
I do understand the importance of having teachers and
school administrators in the community. I was challenged by
living and teaching on the Navajo Reservation at a public
school where housing was not available.
The work we are doing, particularly with the bill you have
around early childhood education, we really need to take a look
at those kinds of opportunities because it begins by beginning
with the parents and the children and even our grandparents who
are raising these children as well as foster care.
It begins there but we also make certain that a lot of the
legislation that is out there, I have been on tribal council
from my own tribe and in various elected positions for my own
tribe as well and have overseen our NAHASDA project on behalf
of our tribe.
In many of our situations, the housing conditions are such
that we do not allow the opportunity to provide for education
even in our housing programs, HUD houses we are talking about.
You are limited in what you can do.
I think we need to work to get some of the bureaucratic red
tape out of the way that you are doing with the early childhood
education in some of these other programs such as the Native
American Housing Assistance Act so that we can provide those
kinds of services that we do need.
Typically in HUD housing, you have young people, young
families wanting a place to live to get a start in life, so
they go to the HUD homes. That is where we need to be providing
the education and support for these young people to continue
educating their own children and families.
Senator Franken. Thank you.
Sorry, Mr. Chairman, for going over. I just want to say to
Senator Begay, the kid you talked about saying, what does it
matter, why do you care, I think we on the Committee have to
answer that kid and say we care. My frustration has been that
we do not show that we care. We do not show it by levels of
funding.
Thank you.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Franken.
Senator Daines?
STATEMENT OF HON. STEVE DAINES,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MONTANA
Senator Daines. Thank you, Chairman Barrasso and Ranking
Member Tester. Thank you for pulling together this hearing.
I would first like to welcome Dr. Sandra Boham. It is good
to have you here, the President of the Salish and Kootenai
College from the great State of Montana.
Dr. Boham. Thank you.
Senator Daines. It is good to have you here. Thank you for
making the trip.
Montana is home to three Bureau of Indian Education
facilities and seven tribal colleges and universities. In a
recent conversation with Liberty Erickson, Superintendent of
the Northern Cheyenne Tribal School, my office was horrified to
learn that the school had a broken fire alarm system and not a
single disability accessible bathroom.
It gets worse. There is no drinkable tap water on campus.
In fact, the school was forced to purchase bottled water for
the classrooms.
There was one week this year when the purchase order for
bottled water got held up, leaving teachers with no other
choice than to bring in bottled water themselves for their
students on their own dime.
That kind of environment is not conducive to learning
Mr. Roberts, there are 225 students at that school. How, in
good conscience, can we allow small children to be in a
building like that?
Mr. Roberts. We absolutely cannot. That is unacceptable.
That is why when the GAO report came out, we moved swiftly to
hiring seven new safety inspectors, having every school
inspected this year, and it is going to be in the performance
plan for those folks responsible.
Senator Daines. I think Senator McCain brought up the GAO
report showed there had not been a single health and safety
inspection at any of Montana's BIE facilities from 2012 to
2014.
I appreciate the follow-up. The question is, what else is
out there? If that was missed, have we gone through a thorough
review of all the expectations? I assume this was codified
somewhere that these inspections need to take place. What else
has not taken place?
Mr. Roberts. The other thing we are doing is we have
contracted with a company to prepare a report to look at what
it will take over the next five years to bring all of the poor
schools into good condition. I expect to have that report in a
couple months. That is number one.
Senator Daines. Were these inspections part of an
expectation that says this is something you should do, conduct
these annually?
Mr. Roberts. Yes.
Senator Daines. That was missed. I assume you went through
and audited all your other requirements. What other inspections
beyond this one were not being completed or requirements not
being met?
Mr. Roberts. I do not know the answer to that today,
Senator. I can certainly provide an answer for the record. I do
want to say that part of our reorganization right now as BIE
operates, as this Committee is well aware, the functions for
facilities are operated under our Deputy Assistant Secretary
for Management and BIA, particularly out in the regions.
Our reorganization, as we are moving forward to implement
it now, all of those folks responsible for facilities will
report directly to the BIE director so that they have line
authority to address these issues rather than having to go
across the department. Reorganization is key to addressing
these situations going forward.
Senator Daines. I appreciate the reorganization. I would
ask as a follow up item what other requirements are set in the
standards would not be met? I assume this is like a tip of the
iceberg issue. I have to believe there are other requirements
that also are not being met. It would be great to see what else
you found and what action is being taken to remedy that.
Countless studies have shown that academic achievement is
linked to building conditions. It is crucial that we foster an
environment best suited for learning for the sake of our tribal
children, especially when we get into potentially life
threatening situations.
I am going to pivot over to a happier conversation, Dr.
Boham, and the work you are doing to preserve Native American
languages. All Americans have a stake in the fight to preserve
Native languages. They are a shared part of our national
heritage.
Last year, Senators Schatz, Murkowski, Sullivan and I
introduced an amendment which was subsequently enacted into
public law to study the benefits of Native American language
immersion education.
Dr. Boham, I understand SKC is doing quite a bit of work on
language and cultural revitalization. I would like to hear
about those efforts.
Dr. Boham. We are. We have been partnering over this last
year to really revitalize and build the language effort in our
community. We do have a language immersion school. It is a
private tribal school. Our Head Start program is requiring now
that all of their teachers have a year of language.
We have been working with those schools in preparing
language teachers. We will be putting forward a two year degree
in language teacher preparation. Montana has a Class VII
certification for language teachers but it is all around the
language and culture piece. It does not require the methods,
strategies and curriculum development that teachers need.
This program we are putting together will address that
specifically. Our goal is to create language teachers in Salish
and Kootenai because right now with the need for language
teachers, we cannot meet it.
Senator Daines. With the investment you are making, what in
your eyes as a professional educator makes Native language
education so important?
Dr. Boham. Native language education is critical because
that language contains the essence of our culture. It is what
allows for our spiritual, ceremonial and cultural life to
flourish. There are many aspects of the culture that have no
English translation, so we need to keep those Native languages.
The other part of it is that it reinforces and builds that
sense of student identity which we know contributes to their
persistence and resilience in schools. Many times students will
begin a language path and then they take that home and educate
their parents. It reinforces that strength within their
parents.
Many people in our community around the issue of language
are dealing with effects of historical trauma. Building that
strong sense of identity and how it contributes to their
academic success is why language is critical as is culture.
Senator Daines. I have one quick question. I am out of time
but I will try to make this one fast.
There has been some challenge I know with three tribal
colleges participating in Federal student loan programs. I have
supported maintaining that participation on a voluntary basis
to alleviate the potential burdens on tribal college students.
Could briefly describe why it is difficult for TCU students
to take on Federal student loans?
Dr. Boham. There are only now two tribal colleges that
currently do student loans. We are one of them. We have a
person dedicated 100 percent to helping to keep our student
loan default rate below 30 percent. Thirty percent for three
years and you are ineligible for all scholarships, Pell grant
and all of that.
What happens is because we have small numbers of students,
it does not take very many to put you into that 30 percent.
Greater than that, we work very hard to have scholarship
opportunities for these students because we want them to
graduate with their under graduate degree, be it a two year or
one year certificate or baccalaureate, with the least amount to
no debt that they possibly can because we are educating people
we want to contribute within our own communities across the
country. Every tribal college will tell you this.
If they leave our schools and have debt and then work in
our communities, which typically have lower wages, they are not
going to be able to do that. It is critical that we keep their
debt level low, particularly if we want them to go on to
graduate programs which tribal colleges need students to do.
We want them to come out, go to work, be able to contribute
and not be suffering under that debt.
Senator Daines. Thank you, Dr. Boham. I appreciate it.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Daines.
Senator Schatz?
Senator Schatz. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I am struck, Dr. Boham, by a phrase you used earlier in the
hearing, strengthen identity. I wanted you to talk a bit about
language immersion both from the perspective of your expertise
as a tribal member but also from the perspective that you have
as an educator.
It seems to me that what happens in Native communities,
including the State of Hawaii, is this disconnection from
culture, from land and from community, this sort of
disengagement that I actually think a lot of young people are
experiencing also in non-tribal communities, but especially in
Native communities.
Could you talk, first, on a personal level about what
happens with a kid experiencing an immersion school and how
they avoid becoming a statistic, how they chart a path for
themselves based on pride in who they are?
Dr. Boham. I am going to start with something that sounds
very simple which is motivation. We know our students are not
necessarily motivated by personal gain. They are motivated more
by how their personal success is going to impact their family
and community.
When we talk to students, contained within that language
and the cultural world view is how does what they are doing
going to impact in a positive way their families and
communities? That is the beginning.
Many times in these immersion schools, it is the first time
that world view aligns with why they are doing what they are
doing. It creates that relevance so that in a language
immersion school, you are taking your language, understanding
pieces about your history, culture and identity that you may
not have had the opportunity to be exposed to before, whether
it is a child or adult working in that environment.
That begins to build that sense of belonging and sense of
identity that this is a place for me and I can be successful
here and I have an obligation to do this. I have an obligation
to be successful, to contribute to my community and my family.
It allows students to have a stronger sense of themselves
which leads to that resiliency. That resiliency helps them to
persist and overcome barriers that they might not have been
able to overcome previously.
In schools that do not provide culture and language,
students do not have that core strength oftentimes to deal with
those barriers on a daily basis. In immersion schools, those
barriers are removed.
Senator Schatz. Thank you. I appreciate that.
This is a question for both Ms. Whitefoot and Dr. Boham.
Part of the reason for immersion schools and culturally
grounded education is exactly what you discussed but the other
part is self determination.
I am wondering about the balance between developing
expertise and best practices and how that kind of interacts and
intersects with self determination? In other words, we do want
national standards and national best practices in terms of
immersion and culturally appropriate education.
On the other hand, there can be some friction and it can
run counter to the desire for communities to chart their own
course when it comes to education and culture. Starting with
Ms. Whitefoot, please?
Ms. Whitefoot. I am pleased to have come here today as a
participant in the Department of Education's negotiated
rulemaking meeting held this morning and was able to witness
that friction that does occur, particularly when it comes to
English language proficiency as well as assessments.
In the discussion around English language proficiency, when
you take a look the new reauthorization of the ESSA, it does
not really address the needs of Native children. The
representatives we had in there were advocating for Native
language immersion.
At the same time, the chairman on the negotiated rulemaking
committee spoke to the importance of sovereignty and self
determination. In terms of determination, when it comes to
schools, it is through the language immersion programs that we
have the language programs we have in our schools and that we
are able to realize true self determination and sovereignty.
You should know that best too, coming from the State of
Hawaii. We have gone over there and studied some of the work
that you are doing. Tribes are looking at those best practices
and the research being done now.
It was no surprise that we also have our Native Hawaiian
sister attending this meeting because we are also working
together to address these issues and also to get some of the
assessment tools being used.
We are not always involved in those processes at the
Federal or State level. We just finished our legislative
session in Washington State, so I think what ESSA is doing is
motivating us to have that conversation with one another, with
American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians on this
topic alone.
I could go on and on but I will not.
Senator Schatz. Thank you, Ms. Whitefoot.
Dr. Boham, quickly. My time has expired but I do want to
hear from you.
Dr. Boham. I cannot speak a whole lot to the rulemaking Ms.
Whitefoot discussed, but I can tell you that right now we have
outcomes every student is expected to meet. We have determined
what it means to be a proficient language teacher, the tribes
have.
We have been out of the fray in that way a great deal and I
would imagine what you will see is a continued push around the
local control issues of what those outcomes and standards
should be for those language schools. I think that is where the
discussion is really going to come out for those schools.
Senator Schatz. Thank you very much.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Schatz.
Senator Tester?
Senator Tester. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
First of all, thank you all for your testimony. I very much
appreciate you coming and testifying.
I will start with you, Larry. The BIE released its list of
the next ten replacement schools earlier this week. You
obviously have a plan for those schools but there are still way
too many schools that are in poor condition at the BIE.
The SAFETY Act that I introduced would require the
department and OMB to come up with a ten year plan to get all
the BIE facilities, not into fantastic condition, but good
condition. I want to thank you for supporting that idea.
Does the department have its own larger, long term plan on
how to address the remaining backlog, ASAP?
Mr. Roberts. It is something we are actively working on. As
I mentioned earlier, we are waiting for a report I should have
in about 60 days that will set a pathway forward for those
schools in poor condition to get them to good condition.
After that it is done, we have asked them to look at
basically what you have asked for, sort of a longer,
comprehensive plan to keep these schools in good condition.
Senator Tester. We look forward to it. Senator Daines
talked about it and Senator Franken has talked about it. The
bottom line is in a lot of these schools, you could be a top
notch student or have a top notch teacher but if the conditions
are not there to learn, the classrooms just are not adequate. I
do not want to reiterate it, you know the issues.
Your testimony mentions that you heard about the idea of
creating BIE as a standalone agency during the tribal
consultation process for designing the current reorganization.
What did you hear exactly from the tribes during consultation
about the idea of making BIE a standalone agency?
Mr. Roberts. Senator, I was not involved with those
consultations. What I heard exactly I will have to submit for
the record.
Generally, there was a greater focus from tribes in terms
of strengthening our existing organizations as opposed to an
independent agency.
Senator Tester. Have you heard anything from the tribes
about vouchers?
Mr. Roberts. I have not. Another concern we have about the
vouchers is that it is easy to over imagine the promise of a
private school but the fact of the matter, Senator, is that
they are selective so not every kid is going to get into that
private school.
Senator Tester. That is true.
Mr. Roberts. It is hard to get data from those private
schools because they are not going to provide that type of
data. I just want to say that while it may help some students,
it is certainly not a cure all.
Senator Tester. My understanding is those vouchers would
take money away from current BIE schools, is that correct?
Mr. Roberts. It would take money away from current
tribally-operated schools, Senator.
Senator Tester. Has BIE done an estimate about how funded
or underfunded those BIE schools are already?
Mr. Roberts. I do not have those numbers off the top of my
head but I think everyone knows they are underfunded, Senator.
Senator Tester. Thank you.
Others have mentioned the change in leadership at BIE and
the director being demoted last week in response to an IG
investigation. How is that change in leadership going to impact
BIE reform moving forward?
Mr. Roberts. We are moving full steam ahead, Senator.
Senator Tester. It will have no effect?
Mr. Roberts. It will have no effect.
Senator Tester. What do you see as the path forward for
rebuilding tribal trust in the BIE management?
Mr. Roberts. It is going to take a lot of one-on-one
conversations with tribal leadership. We are actively doing
that right now. Deputy Assistant Secretary Ann Marie Bledsoe
Downes is going to be meeting with Southern Governors Pueblo
Council next week. That is a start but we are going to
extensive outreach with all tribal leaders.
Senator Tester. That is a ton of tribes.
Mr. Roberts. Senator, they care about this when we hear
from them.
Senator Tester. I am going to go to you, Dr. Boham. Your
testimony mentioned having classes at SKC in church basements,
empty buildings and shared facilities. I appreciate your
creativity but that is a problem.
What overall facility needs does SKC have? Have you done an
assessment? Can you tell us what you need?
Dr. Boham. That was previous when it was first beginning in
the early, early days. Today, we have a beautiful campus with
amazing facilities.
Senator Tester. Good.
Dr. Boham. Yes.
Senator Tester. That is good news. I think Senator Daines
talked about the fact that we have a tribal college on every
reservation.
Dr. Boham. Yes.
Senator Tester. Seven reservations, seven tribal colleges
and they are split up. That is good news. You would say your
facilities are above average and adequate?
Dr. Boham. Yes, but that is not the case for all tribal
colleges across the Nation.
Senator Tester. I agree. It speaks well of your tribal
leadership, I will tell you that. It also speaks well of the
fact you guys are prioritizing education at SKC and that is the
key to breaking the cycle of poverty, in my opinion.
Senator Tester. Regarding early childhood programs, Salish
Kootenai College has a thriving early childhood education
program as well as its own childcare center for students and
faculty. You have my applause for that.
Dr. Boham. Yes.
Senator Tester. How has that program impacted the quality
and availability of early childhood education within the
Flathead Reservation and the State of Montana as a whole?
Dr. Boham. Our childcare center is currently being used
both as a childcare center and as a preschool laboratory
facility. It has improved childcare within the reservation
drastically because it makes childcare available for our
students. Most of them would not be able to afford childcare if
they had to find it someplace else. Finding quality childcare
with educated caregivers is very difficult.
Montana just implemented pre-K-3 teacher licenses. We have
a curriculum now to offer that licensure. We are anticipating
an increase in seeing people who are skilled in teaching
children between preschool and third grade which is a very
different group of children to teach than elementary school.
I think it will have a huge impact on our Head Start, our
pre-schools and our pre-schools operating in conjunction with
our public schools.
Senator Tester. Thank you, Doctor. I appreciate your
leadership. From one Montanan to another, thank you very much
for that.
One again, thank you all for your testimony and thank you,
Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Tester.
Mr. Roberts, your testimony reflects that the
Administration really does not fully support the RAISE Act.
Your concern is the creation of an independent agency within
the Department of Interior.
The purpose of the independent agency within the department
would clearly define the trust responsibility to Indian
students. Can you talk a bit about how we can get the
Administration support when we both want reforms that are going
to raise academic achievement and economic opportunity when
young people graduate?
Mr. Roberts. We do appreciate a number of different aspects
of your bill. You focused on the one that gave us concern, the
independent agency. We would like to work with you and your
staff because I think we both have the same goals in mind which
is empowering the BIE director to have that line authority over
the various offices that he needs to have to be able to
function effectively.
I would like to have someone from my staff at a high level
work directly with your staff to see if we can get there.
The Chairman. I appreciate that. We look at the GAO report
that was released. There are a lot of concerns. I think anyone
who reads it has those concerns. I know everyone here on the
panel and people on both sides of the aisle have concerns.
They focus on safety inspections. The report concluded the
agency ``cannot ensure that the learning and work environments
at BIE schools are safe.'' How will the BIE ensure the safety
of these schools? What steps are currently being taken to
address the concerns from the report?
Mr. Roberts. We are going to have every one of those
schools inspected this year. We have advertised seven new
positions for safety inspectors. Once all those inspections are
completed, as they are being completed, we will move forward in
a timely fashion to address those, providing the funding that
we have.
The Chairman. Ms. Whitefoot, the Department of Interior has
been working on restructuring the Bureau of Indian Education
for the past two years. The department's proposed restructuring
appears to neglect the GAO's recommendation in its 2013 report
on some of the deficiencies.
Those recommendations include, among other things, clear
lines of decision-making authority processes. How did the BIE
reach out to you, to the National Indian Education Association,
regarding the restructuring?
Do you think the current structure, whereby the facilities,
the personnel and the procurement decisions are made by another
agency, not the Bureau of Indian Education but another agency,
is appropriate for student achievement and safety?
Ms. Whitefoot. BIE has worked intimately with the National
Indian Education Association regarding the reform. However, it
has been mostly on communication and network with our
constituency.
About three years ago at our annual convention in Rapid
City, we did host a planning meeting with the BIE. During the
past two conventions we have held more recently in Portland,
Oregon, we held a town hall meeting with the Bureau of Indian
Education.
I do want to say also, because I have been in education for
about 40 years, I have also been a BIE-funded school
administrator as well, these are not short term issues but are
long term issues that have been going on for many, many years.
We have had a direct ask from our NIEA membership asking
for a timeline that lays out the entire plan for the
reorganization, a budget specific to the reform itself and also
the proposed 2,000 changes as well.
We also want to know how the BIE will assist school
personnel in the event that a tribe will make significant
staffing changes because we all know that tribes can take over
these funds as well.
It is important for us to know what proposals are out
there. It is important for communication to be open and
transparent during this process.
The Chairman. Thank you so much.
Senator Cantwell."
STATEMENT OF HON. MARIA CANTWELL,
U.S. SENATOR FROM WASHINGTON
Senator Cantwell. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for
having this hearing. It is very important for those at the
witness table. There probably is not a more important issue in
Indian country than exactly how our education system is working
or lack thereof and transparency.
I know before I got here there was some discussion of the
exact process and the new list being published about schools. I
wanted to ask Mr. Roberts about that list. Catching up on the
60 schools or so that you gave a guesstimate to before I got
here, what do you think the cost is? What is the cost it would
take to address this backlog of necessary school construction?
Mr. Roberts. Senator, I do not have an answer for you on
that today. I can look to see. We are studying what it would
take to bring all of the schools in poor condition up to good
condition. I expect to have that report within 60 days.
When the negotiated rulemaking committee forwarded the list
of schools, the 10 schools to be replaced, they suggested that
we move forward with some subset of those schools. We are in a
crisis, we cannot wait. I said we need to move forward with all
10 of these schools, some of which, Senator, are in your home
State, but there are other schools across the country.
We do have a crisis here. We have to move forward quickly.
Obviously that is going to take appropriations as well.
Senator Cantwell. I am definitely very interested. For
example, the Quileute School made that list but there is no
timeline, as you just said, there is no funding, so they are in
a tsunami zone. I am glad they are on the list but I also want
to understand what that means.
I feel there is too much mystery left here. For an issue
that all our colleagues care about, it would be much better to
know what the backlog is and what it is going to take to clean
it up.
I also want to bring up the Yakimas because that is another
example of kind of confusing criteria. They thought the
criteria of being 50-plus years old with 75 percent of their
classes in modular buildings, they had been in the building for
37 years but found out the building was actually older than
that.
All I am saying is I think this is about dilapidation or
unacceptable conditions and then telling us what they are. I
feel like very year it is a mystery. It is just a mystery.
Mr. Roberts. Every one of these 10 schools is on the list.
We have funding to provide them for planning to start the
planning process for replacement. That will happen this year.
Senator Cantwell. For full construction?
Mr. Roberts. Planning for construction, that is right. The
planning dollars they will receive this year. Then we will move
forward subject to appropriations based on the readiness after
that planning.
We are moving full steam ahead. We are going to be working
with each of these tribal schools not only on this list but on
the 2004 list that we have closed out to move forward as
quickly as possible.
Senator Cantwell. Mr. Roberts, do you think this process is
working?
Mr. Roberts. I think there has been a lot of criticism
about the process. We are fixing it is the short answer.
Senator Cantwell. I hope so because I think when it is
mysterious, by that I mean you do not know what you are going
to get, what year you are going to get it, whether you meet the
criteria or not, how can you build a momentum here in Congress
to support the backlog if we said we really have a backlog of
50 to 60 schools that are in this very unacceptable condition
which I think every one of our colleagues shows up here and
says at one time or another?
Tell us what it is that we need and how long that would
take and then let us work together across the aisle to try to
get the funding so that we can understand the need. I think the
fact it is not categorized in a way that is transparent enough
leaves us short of the resources for Indian country. I think we
really do need to focus in on this.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you very much, Senator Cantwell.
With that, there are no further questions today but members
may still submit follow up written questions for the record. I
would ask that you respond quickly. The hearing record will be
open for two weeks.
I want to thank each of you for being here today, for your
time and your testimony.
With that, the hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 3:52 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
Prepared Statement of Hon. Bill John Baker, Principal Chief, Cherokee
Nation submitted to the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee--
March 18, 2016
Chairman Calvert, Ranking member McCollum, Chairman Cole, and
distinguished members of the subcommittee:
Osiyo.
My name is Bill John Baker, and it is my deep honor to serve as
Principal Chief of our country's largest Native American tribe, the
Cherokee Nation. Thank you for granting me an opportunity to speak with
you today.
The state of Oklahoma held its presidential primary earlier this
month, and in the days and weeks leading up to Election Day the good
people of Oklahoma were inundated with a host of television and radio
ads that said Washington is broken. Congress doesn't work for the
benefit of the people, the President doesn't listen to Congress--
Washington just can't get things done.
About the same time these ads were airing, the Cherokee Nation was
in the process of finalizing an historic agreement with the Indian
Health Service that will dramatically increase the capabilities of
Indian Country's largest tribal health care system and usher in a new
era of health care in northeast Oklahoma.
Washington isn't irreparably broken--as our story shows, it can get
things done.
A few years ago I sat before this subcommittee and asked you to
urge IHS to receive a round of new applications for the Joint Venture
Construction Program. Many of you then signed onto a bipartisan letter
led by Chairman Cole and Ranking member McCollum that called on IHS to
reopen the program. This subcommittee pushed the full committee to
include language in its committee report stressing the program's
importance. Members of both parties augmented this effort with calls
and letters to IHS and the administration.
Last year, IHS reopened the Joint Venture Construction Program and
we submitted an application.
And later this year, the Cherokee Nation will break ground on what
will be the largest facility ever built under the JV program. This
450,000 square foot facility will be constructed in our capital city of
Tahlequah at an estimated cost of more than $150 million. Per our
agreement with IHS, we will provide the upfront construction costs,
alleviating IHS of its trust responsibility for health care facility
construction and saving valuable federal resources. Once the facility
is completed, IHS will provide annual funding packages to cover
staffing and operations costs. This agreement--approximately $80
million a year for a minimum of 20 years--is the largest ever struck
between IHS and a tribe.
This health care facility, which we expect to complete in late
2019, will be absolutely transformative for the entire Cherokee Nation
and future generations of tribal citizens in northeast Oklahoma. It
will expand our ability to deliver world-class health care and allow
for the introduction of specialty services in the fields of surgery and
endocrinology. The facility will also house many additional new
upgrades to our ambulatory care, podiatry, audiology, dental care, eye
care, primary care, specialty care, behavioral health, health
education, nutrition, and diagnostic imaging capabilities.
During my tenure as Principal Chief, no issue has been more
important to me than the continued expansion of our health care
services. It has been my mission to help drive down the extreme health
disparities that plague our region and the entirety of Indian Country.
Over the past five years we have wisely invested more than $100 million
of our business profits in clinic construction, expansion, and
renovation in an aggressive effort to improve the wellness of our
citizens, both individually and collectively.
The new state-of-the-art health center will be the cornerstone of
this effort and the crown jewel of our health care system. When we
envisioned an expansion of the W.W. Hastings complex, we planned to
take a big step forward--instead, we're taking a giant leap.
This is a monumental undertaking. This facility is far and away the
largest project IHS has ever approved. It will be twice as large as the
next largest IHS joint venture facility. In three short years, when we
dedicate this new complex, we will know that future generations will
live better and healthier lives.
But there is far more work to be done.
Everyone in this room knows the dire need for facility construction
and facility repair in Indian Country goes far beyond the health care
sector.
For instance, the construction and rehabilitation backlog for BIE
schools is an estimated $1.3 billion, and considering that estimation
was based on just 68 schools, not the 78 that recently applied for
school construction and rehabilitation funding, the figure may be
somewhat conservative. Fifty-five of those 78 schools are deemed to be
in ``poor'' condition, and the other schools were at least five decades
old and educating the vast majority of their students in portable
buildings.
We applaud the subcommittee for highlighting this issue and
dramatically increasing the education construction account in the FY
2016 appropriations measure, and urge you to continue that momentum
with additional funding for this purpose in FY 2017.
That said, we also need to be realistic about how far that funding
will go. The schools that applied for education construction funds last
year are in need of immediate repair--or in some cases, total
replacement. BIE, however, is still working to complete a priority list
created over a decade ago. If today 55 schools are considered to be in
``poor'' condition, how bad will they be in a decade or two or three
when BIE has worked through enough priority lists to finally reach all
of them?
We further understand the fiscal challenges you face when putting
together your bill. If you were to appropriate the necessary amount to
repair or replace all of these schools, every other program under the
subcommittee's jurisdiction would face the prospect of flat funding or
cuts.
It is time for Congress, the administration, and Indian Country to
consider new ways of tackling this vital issue and new solutions for
school construction. Otherwise, we will never be able to address all of
the needs. We applaud the subcommittee for urging the administration to
``consider alternative funding mechanisms appropriations for replacing
schools and facilities, including the use of bonds'' in last year's
House committee report.
One possible solution could be a BIE equivalent of the IHS Joint
Venture Construction Program.
We operate Sequoyah High School, a BIE school in Tahlequah, OK.
Sequoyah has an enrollment of 367 students from 24 tribes and has a
strict focus on academic success. Last year, Sequoyah ranked fourth
nationally in the number of Gates Millennium Scholars per capita, and
the 2014-15 graduating class earned over $3.7 million in college
scholarships. Additionally, Sequoyah High School has a 100 percent
graduation rate.
Our students achieve in spite of Sequoyah's aging and generally
insufficient facilities. Sequoyah consists of 17 structures, 13 of
which are more than 40 years old. The main high school and the science
classrooms are 49 years old, and the robotics classroom is 85 years old
and located more than a quarter-mile from the main high school. In the
face of these challenges, the robotics team recently captured the state
championship.
Approximately a third of Sequoyah students live on campus. At
present, however, the residential dormitories have been relegated to a
temporary dormitory due to the discovery of significant mold deposits
throughout the entirety of both the boys and girls dormitories. This
has placed a limit on the number of dormitory units available to
students, which in turn negatively impacts enrollment (about 50
students per year have been denied admission to Sequoyah simply due to
a lack of dormitory space). Mold has been caused by leakage in roofs
and plumbing systems and asbestos has been discovered in many
facilities, requiring extensive abatement.
A key problem at Sequoyah is major plumbing issues virtually
campus-wide, resulting in a substantial amount of water leakage
incidents. Aged plumbing systems have caused leakage issues in all but
one building. This greatly contributes to the mold concerns that
require extensive abatement and repair.
BIE's Operation and Maintenance funding is not enough to meet the
needs of the school, and, as such, the buildings continue to degrade,
space continues to be an issue, and enrollment continues to fall.
Like so many BIE schools, Sequoyah requires immediate assistance.
Yet because of the great need throughout Indian Country, and the great
cost to the Federal Government to replace many of these facilities,
earlier this year BIE selected just 10 schools to move forward with the
application process for school construction funding, and eventually
will select just five to move forward with repairs. Sequoyah was not
one of the schools selected to continue with this process.
And considering the backlog, I find it hard to believe we will be
selected any time soon under the current criteria and program
guidelines. The need for repair, however, will still be there.
This is why we need new ideas and solutions. If tribes were able to
incur construction costs for these facilities in exchange for fixed
operations and maintenance costs--like the IHS joint venture--we might
be able to begin to alleviate some of the significant backlog and
create new educational opportunities in Indian Country. If we maintain
the status quo and wait for BIE to go through the entire list, we'll be
in the same place year after year.
We cannot simply wait for funding that is unlikely to come. The
challenges are too great, and the consequences of delay are too much.
Therefore, we urge the subcommittee and all of Indian Country to rally
around new solutions to the problem of school construction, including a
new joint venture-like program for BIE.
Finally, we continue to support full funding of IHS and BIA
contract support costs, and continue to call for acceptance of the
proposal to reclassify CSCs as mandatory appropriations. As you know,
the Cherokee Nation has long been a leader in the self-governance
arena. We were among the first tribes to enter into self-governance
compacts: our compact with the Department of the Interior was signed in
1991, and we followed that with a compact with Indian Health Service in
1993.
We filed our first claim for contract support costs in 1994. For
more than 20 years, the Cherokee Nation and other tribes have been
litigating contract support cost issues to establish that the federal
government's legal obligation to fully fund these costs is necessary to
fulfill the policy of tribal self-determination. The U.S. Supreme Court
has, on three occasions, confirmed this principle through rulings in
Cherokee Nation et al. v. Leavitt, Salazar v. Ramah Navajo Chapter, and
Arctic Slope Native Association v. Sebelius.
Despite these rulings, the Federal Government has not always lived
up to its obligations. When the United States does not fully pay
contract support costs, we must find ways to make up the shortfall.
This means realigning our priorities and reducing funds budgeted for
critical health care, education, and other tribal services. For every
$1 million that the Cherokee Nation must divert from direct patient
care to cover contract support costs, we are forced to forego about
6,000 patient visits. Failure to fully fund these costs impedes our
ability to meet the tribal health care needs and the other needs of
Cherokee citizens.
Thank you again for this opportunity to testify.
Wado.
______
National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)
March 17, 2016
Hon. Jon Tester,
Hon. Maria Cantwell,
Committee on Indian Affairs,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Vice Chairman Tester and Senator Cantwell:
On behalf of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the
oldest, largest, and most representative organization of American
Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments, I write to express our
support for the introduction of S. 2468, the Safe Academic Facilities
and Environments for Tribal Youth Act (SAFETY Act). The SAFETY Act
recognizes the various schools that contribute to the future prosperity
of our nation and Indian Country, including Impact Aid schools, Tribal
Colleges and Universities (TCUs), Department of Education, and Bureau
of Indian Education (BIE) schools, and creates federal agency
accountability to address education-related facility needs for both
students and teachers.
No resource is more important to the future of our nation and
Indian Country than our children. For Native communities specifically,
strengthening human capital to improve social welfare is a necessity to
advance tribal sovereignty and maintain tribes' cultural vitality.
Ensuring all students, including Native students, have a safe and
healthy learning environment is a national duty, pivotal for lifelong
academic and personal success. Within safe and healthy learning
environments, and equally important, must be the delivery of high-
quality education through qualified and consistent teachers, whose
concerns need not consist of inadequate housing in the area they commit
to teaching. Equal educational opportunity is not only a matter of
fairness, but essential in creating jobs, advancing personal wellness
and empowering communities.
NCAI's membership strongly supports the SAFETY Act, and we applaud
your commitment to tribal youth with the introduction of the
legislation. NCAI will continue to stand in support of the SAFETY Act
as the legislation moves through the legislative process to be signed
into law.
I also write to express our support for S. 2304, the Tribal Early
Childhood, Education, and Related Services Integration Act of 2015. The
legislation addresses technical assistance and training needs for
tribes to exercise their sovereignty and administer their own early
childhood education programs, while ensuring access to educational and
infrastructure resources, requiring federal agency coordination, and
retaining school teachers.
Providing a high-quality, culturally-appropriate education is
imperative to the development and success of Native children,
especially to our youngest students. By providing opportunities for
success early on in the educational process, a student's chances to
progress to the next grade level, attend college, and reach their full
potential drastically increase. Adequate facilities and educator
consistency also are critical factors for the academic success of our
students, essential in establishing uniform educational standards for
all students while protecting and advancing tribal sovereignty.
NCAI's membership strongly supports the Tribal Early Childhood,
Education, and Related Services Integration Act of 2015, and we applaud
your commitment to tribal sovereignty and tribal youth with the
introduction of this legislation. NCAI will continue lend our support
of the Act as the legislation moves through the Senate and this
Congress.
Sincerely,
Jacqueline Johnson Pata,
Executive Director, NCAI.
______
The National Indian Impacted Schools Association (NIISA)
Hon. Jon Tester,
Hon. Maria Cantwell,
Committee on Indian Affairs,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Tester and Senator Cantwell:
The National Indian Impacted Schools Association (NIISA)
enthusiastically endorses S. 2468, the ``Safe Academic Facilities and
Environments for Tribal Youth Act'' or SAFETY Act. NIISA represents
over 635 federally impacted public school districts that receive
funding through the Impact Aid Program. This revenue source provides
critical funding to school districts that educate children residing on
Indian treaty, federal trust or Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
land.
The initiatives in the SAFETY Act recognize the need for adequate
facilities in federally impacted Indian lands public schools by
recommending a GAO Study; Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools by
requiring OMB to develop a ten year plan; tribal colleges and
universities construction initiative and will provide housing
assistance for educators serving in BIE and public schools with
significant American Indian enrollment. A first class workforce in
America begins with a first class education that is provided in first
class facilities! The SAFETY Act will be foundational to identifying
the backlog of facility renovation and construction needs in these
education systems.
NIISA is especially pleased to see federally impacted public
school's facility needs prioritized. These school districts educate
over 90 percent of American Indian students; however, as a result of
federal presence, they have limited taxing authority for general
operation and bonding for construction and renovation purposes. A GAO
Study that evaluates the facility needs of these districts will be an
important first step in documenting the backlog of need. Further, the
Act directs the GAO to examine the adequacy of funding in Section 7007
subparagraphs (A) and (B) of ESSA to document current levels of federal
appropriations for facility upgrades, an equally important piece to
reaching a long-term solution.
Finally, NIISA wishes to express its gratitude to Senator Tester
and Senator Cantwell for initiating this authorization. Please accept
NIISA's endorsement of the SAFETY Act, S. 2468.
Sincerely,
Dan Hudson, President,
Brent Gish, Executive Director,
NIISA.
______
Browning Public Schools
April 4, 2016
Hon. Jon Tester,
Committee on Indian Affairs,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Tester:
I write this letter on behalf of the Browning School District
located in Browning, Montana in support of 2468: the Safe Academic
Facilities and Environments for Tribal Youth Act--SAFETY ACT. Please
know that the facility needs of our schools are as we indicated in the
brief we left with you on our last visit to D.C. Specifically our lack
of teacher housing makes it difficult for our district to not only
attract teachers, but impacts our ability to retain them as well.
We support S. 2469 in total as we fully recognize the construction
needs of BIE schools, the tribally controlled community colleges as
well as teacher housing. As public schools enrolling children residing
on Indian Trust and Treaty land as well as Alaska Native lands, we are
particularly interested in Section 7 of the bill calling for a GAO
study of Section 7007 of the Impact Aid law (Title VII of Every Child
Succeeds Act of 2015). Our district like others that depend on Title
VII funding does not have the bonding capacity to fund our capital
projects. Although Section 7007 provides funding for facility repair
and modernization; the funding level is inadequate ($17 million per
year) to meet the needs of Indian land districts and is shared by both
our districts as well as districts serving military dependent children.
Unfortunately there is little national data available supporting the
need for facility funding for our schools. Although the Department of
the Interior maintains a school facility condition index for all BIE
schools and the Department of Defense recently completed an inventory
documenting the facility needs of public schools located on a military
installation, there is no national equivalent list that catalogs the
infrastructure and maintenance needs of Impact Aid school districts. It
is important to take notice of the fact that approximately 90 percent
of Native students attend local public schools. Over 115,000 of those
Native students are enrolled in one of 630 public school districts
operated on or near a reservation
A GAO Study that evaluates the facility needs of districts such as
ours will be an important first step in documenting the backlog of
need. On behalf of our district and the community we serve, I would ask
that S. 2468 be made a committee priority and that the legislation be
enacted prior to the conclusion of this Congress. Please know as well
that should the committee be in need of further documentation of our
facility needs, I would be happy to provide you with additional
information including photos.
Thank you again for your support of the Browning Public School
District.
Sincerely,
John P. Rouse,
Superintendent.
______
Independent School District No. 38
April 4, 2016
Hon. Jon Tester,
Hon. Maria Cantwell,
Committee on Indian Affairs,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Tester and Senator Cantwell:
I write this letter on behalf of the Red Lake School District
located in Red Lake, Minnesota in support of 2468: the Safe Academic
Facilities and Environments for Tribal Youth Act--SAFETY ACT. Please
know that the facility needs of our schools are in need of repair and
in some cases modernization if not new construction. In addition our
capacity with regard to high speed connectivity is lacking.
We support S. 2469 in total as we fully recognize the construction
needs of BIE schools, the tribally controlled community colleges as
well as teacher housing. As public schools enrolling children residing
on Indian Trust and Treaty land as well as Alaska Native lands, we are
particularly interested in Section 7 of the bill calling for a GAO
study of Section 7007 of the Impact Aid law (Title VII of Every Child
Succeeds Act of 2015). Our district like others that depend on Title
VII funding does not have the bonding capacity to fund our capital
projects. Although Section 7007 provides funding for facility repair
and modernization; the funding level is inadequate ($17 million per
year) to meet the needs of Indian land districts and is shared by both
our districts as well as districts serving military dependent children.
Unfortunately there is little national data available supporting the
need for facility funding for our schools. Although the Department of
the Interior maintains a school facility condition index for all BIE
schools and the Department of Defense recently completed an inventory
documenting the facility needs of public schools located on a military
installation, there is no national equivalent list that catalogs the
infrastructure and maintenance needs of Impact Aid school districts. It
is important to take notice of the fact that approximately 90 percent
of Native students attend local public schools. Over 115,000 of those
Native students are enrolled in one of 630 public school districts
operated on or near a reservation
A GAO Study that evaluates the facility needs of districts such as
ours will be an important first step in documenting the backlog of
need. On behalf of our district and the community we serve, I would ask
that S. 2468 be made a committee priority and that the legislation be
enacted prior to the conclusion of this Congress. Please know as well
that should the committee be in need of further documentation of our
facility needs, I would be happy to provide you with additional
information including photos.
Sincerely,
Anne Lundquist,
Superintendent.
______
Santee Community School
April 4, 2016
Hon. Jon Tester,
Hon. Maria Cantwell,
Committee on Indian Affairs,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Tester and Senator Cantwell:
I write this letter on behalf of the Santee Community School
District located in Nebraska in support of 2468: the Safe Academic
Facilities and Environments for Tribal Youth Act--SAFETY ACT. Please
know that the facility needs of our schools are remodeling to provide a
safe entrance into our building and to allow the rest of our school to
be in a safe locked method. In addition, we have two buildings that are
in need of connecting so that out students may safely travel back and
forth between buildings especially when exposed to weather elements. We
do offer limited teacher housing in order to attract and retain
teaching staff, but they are in desperate need of updating including
new roofs and facility updates.
We support S. 2469 in total as we fully recognize the construction
needs of BIE schools, the tribally controlled community colleges as
well as teacher housing. As public schools enrolling children residing
on Indian Trust and Treaty land as well as Alaska Native lands, we are
particularly interested in Section 7 of the bill calling for a GAO
study of Section 7007 of the Impact Aid law (Title VII of Every Child
Succeeds Act of 201.5). Our district like others that depend on Title
VII funding does not have the bonding capacity to fund our capital
projects. Although Section 7007 provides funding for facility repair
and modernization; the funding level is inadequate ($17 million per
year) to meet the needs of Indian land districts and is shared by both
our districts as well as districts serving military dependent children.
Unfortunately there is little national data available supporting the
need for facility funding for our schools. Although the Department of
the Interior maintains a school facility condition index for all B1E
schools and the Department of Defense recently completed an inventory
documenting the facility needs of public schools located on a military
installation, there is no national equivalent list that catalogs the
infrastructure and maintenance needs of Impact Aid school districts. It
is important to take notice of the fact that approxirnately 90 percent
of Native students attend local public schools. Over 115,000 of those
Native students are enrolled in one of 630 public school districts
operated on or near a reservation.
A GAO Study that evaluates the facility needs of districts such as
ours will be an important first step in documenting the backlog of
need. On behalf of our district and the community we serve, I would ask
that S. 2468 be made a committee priority and that the legislation be
enacted prior to the conclusion of this Congress. Please know as well
that should the committee be in need of further documentation of our
facility needs, would be happy to provide you with additional
information including photos.
Sincerely,
Kristy Mackeprang,
Business Manager.
______
Standing Rock Community School/Fort Yates Public School
April 4, 2016
Hon. Jon Tester,
Hon. Maria Cantwell,
Committee on Indian Affairs,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Tester and Senator Cantwell:
I write this letter on behalf of the Fort Yates Public School
District located in Fort Yates, ND, in support of 2468: the Safe
Academic Facilities and Environments for Tribal Youth Act - SAFETY ACT.
Please know that the facility needs of our schools are in dire need of
repair and in some cases modernization, if not new construction. In
addition our teacher housing continues to be in need of repair/
replacement. Currently our lack of teacher housing makes it difficult
for our district to not only attract teachers, but impacts our ability
to retain them as well.
We support S. 2469 in total as we fully recognize the construction
needs of BIE schools, the tribally controlled community colleges as
well as teacher housing. As public schools enrolling children residing
on Indian Trust and Treaty land as well as Alaska Native lands, we are
particularly interested in Section 7 of the bill calling for a GAO
study of Section 7007 of the Impact Aid law (Title VII of Every Child
Succeeds Act of 2015). Our district like others that depend on Title
VII funding does not have the bonding capacity to fund our capital
projects.
Although Section 7007 provides funding for facility repair and
modernization; the funding level is inadequate ($17 million per year)
to meet the needs of Indian land districts and is shared by both our
districts as well as districts serving military dependent children.
Unfortunately there is little national data available supporting the
need for facility funding for our schools. Although the Department of
the Interior maintains a school facility condition index for all BIE
schools and the Department of Defense recently completed an inventory
documenting the facility needs of public schools located on a military
installation, there is no national equivalent list that catalogs the
infrastructure and maintenance needs of Impact Aid school districts. It
is important to take notice of the fact that approximately 90 percent
of Native students attend local public schools. Over 115,000 of those
Native students are enrolled in one of 630 public school districts
operated on or near a reservation.
A GAO Study that evaluates the facility needs of districts such as
ours will be an important first step in documenting the backlog of
need. On behalf of our district and the community we serve, I would ask
that S. 2468 be made a committee priority and that the legislation be
enacted prior to the conclusion of this Congress. Please know as well
that should the committee be in need of further documentation of our
facility needs, I would be happy to provide you with additional
information including photos.
Sincerely,
Robyn Baker,
Superintendent.
______
National Indian Child Care Association (NICCA)
April 1, 2016
Hon. John Barrasso,
Committee on Indian Affairs,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Barrasso:
On behalf of the National Indian Child Care Association (NICCA), I
am writing to express our support, as well as important considerations,
for Senate Bill 2304, the Tribal Early Childhood, Education, and
Related Services Integration Act of 2015.
NICCA is the representative American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/
AN) organization serving the 260 Tribal Child Care and Development Fund
(CCDF) grantees that serve Tribal children and families across the
nation. We have been representing Tribal children and families and the
programs that serve them since 1991.
This bill, if enacted, would support Tribal programs in promoting
early child development through a more comprehensive approach to
service delivery and continuity of care for AI/AN children. While NICCA
supports the general provisions of the bill, we suggest strengthening
the bill in the following areas.
Consolidation of Funds, Waivers, and Funding Matches
NICCA would like to ensure that the consolidation of funding to
implement the demonstration project does not lead to a decrease in
Tribal Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) funding. S. 2304
does not indicate that any Tribal CCDBG regulations, policies, or
procedures are waived or amended, so it is important to ensure that
programs will have the resources to successfully implement all of their
programs in accordance with the demonstration project. Additionally, we
recommend that the bill be amended to remove language in section 805
A(c)(5)(B)(ii) that prevents the Secretary from waiving ``any specific
statutory requirement for recipients of Federal funding relate to.the
use of Federal funds to supplement, and not supplant, non-Federal
funds.'' Tribal programs often have difficulty in meeting non-Federal
share requirements and we encourage the Committee to consider waiving
the match requirement as funding flexibility is tantamount to the
success of any Tribal early child education project.
Tribal Early Childhood Work Group
NICCA supports the development of the Tribal Early Childhood Work
Group and is grateful for the inclusion in the group. We are prepared
to share our knowledge with the Work Group and the Administration.
However, missing from the list of Work Group members is the National
Indian Education Association--a key partner and stakeholder in Indian
education, including early education. We urge this addition to the Work
Group.
NICCA thanks the Committee, especially Senator Tester, for the
development and introduction of this bill and for the opportunity to
provide our comments on the bill.
Sincerely,
Kim Nall,
Chair.
______
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