[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 154 (Tuesday, August 11, 1998)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 42681-42684]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-21643]


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                         Presidential Documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 154 / Tuesday, August 11, 1998 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 42681]]

                Executive Order 13096 of August 6, 1998

                
American Indian and Alaska Native Education

                By the authority vested in me as President by the 
                Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
                America, in affirmation of the unique political and 
                legal relationship of the Federal Government with 
                tribal governments, and in recognition of the unique 
                educational and culturally related academic needs of 
                American Indian and Alaska Native students, it is 
                hereby ordered as follows:

                Section 1. Goals. The Federal Government has a special, 
                historic responsibility for the education of American 
                Indian and Alaska Native students. Improving 
                educational achievement and academic progress for 
                American Indian and Alaska Native students is vital to 
                the national goal of preparing every student for 
                responsible citizenship, continued learning, and 
                productive employment. The Federal Government is 
                committed to improving the academic performance and 
                reducing the dropout rate of American Indian and Alaska 
                Native students. To help fulfill this commitment in a 
                manner consistent with tribal traditions and cultures, 
                Federal agencies need to focus special attention on six 
                goals: (1) improving reading and mathematics; (2) 
                increasing high school completion and postsecondary 
                attendance rates; (3) reducing the influence of long-
                standing factors that impede educational performance, 
                such as poverty and substance abuse; (4) creating 
                strong, safe, and drug-free school environments; (5) 
                improving science education; and (6) expanding the use 
                of educational technology.

                Sec. 2. Strategy. In order to meet the six goals of 
                this order, a comprehensive Federal response is needed 
                to address the fragmentation of government services 
                available to American Indian and Alaska Native students 
                and the complexity of intergovernmental relationships 
                affecting the education of those students. The purpose 
                of the Federal activities described in this order is to 
                develop a long-term, comprehensive Federal Indian 
                education policy that will accomplish those goals.

                    (a)  Interagency Task Force. There is established 
                an Interagency Task Force on American Indian and Alaska 
                Native Education (Task Force) to oversee the planning 
                and implementation of this order. The Task Force shall 
                confer with the National Advisory Council on Indian 
                Education (NACIE) in carrying out activities under this 
                order. The Task Force shall consult with 
                representatives of American Indian and Alaska Native 
                tribes and organizations, including the National Indian 
                Education Association (NIEA) and the National Congress 
                of American Indians (NCAI), to gather advice on 
                implementation of the activities called for in this 
                order.
                    (b) Composition of the Task Force. (1) The 
                membership of the Task Force shall include 
                representatives of the Departments of the Treasury, 
                Defense, Justice, the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, 
                Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban 
                Development, Transportation, Energy, and Education, as 
                well as the Environmental Protection Agency, the 
                Corporation for National and Community Service, and the 
                National Science Foundation. With the agreement of the 
                Secretaries of Education and the Interior, other 
                agencies may participate in the activities of the Task 
                Force.

[[Page 42682]]

                    (2) Within 30 days of the date of this order, the 
                head of each participating agency shall designate a 
                senior official who is responsible for management or 
                program administration to serve as a member of the Task 
                Force. The official shall report directly to the agency 
                head on the agency's activities under this order.
                    (3) The Assistant Secretary for Elementary and 
                Secondary Education of the Department of Education and 
                the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs of the 
                Department of the Interior shall co-chair the Task 
                Force.
                    (c) Interagency plan. The Task Force shall, within 
                90 days of the date of this order, develop a Federal 
                interagency plan with recommendations identifying 
                initiatives, strategies, and ideas for future 
                interagency action supportive of the goals of this 
                order.
                    (d) Agency participation. To the extent consistent 
                with law and agency priorities, each participating 
                agency shall adopt and implement strategies to maximize 
                the availability of the agency's education-related 
                programs, activities, resources, information, and 
                technical assistance to American Indian and Alaska 
                Native students. In keeping with the spirit of the 
                Executive Memorandum of April 29, 1994, on Government-
                to-Government Relations with Native American Tribal 
                Governments and Executive Order 13084 of May 14, 1998, 
                each participating agency shall consult with tribal 
                governments on their education-related needs and 
                priorities, and on how the agency can better accomplish 
                the goals of this order. Within 6 months, each 
                participating agency shall report to the Task Force 
                regarding the strategies it has developed to ensure 
                such consultation.
                    (e) Interagency resource guide. The Task Force 
                shall identify, within participating Federal agencies, 
                all education-related programs and resources that 
                support the goals of this order. Within 12 months, the 
                Task Force, in conjunction with the Department of 
                Education, shall develop, publish, and widely 
                distribute a guide that describes those programs and 
                resources and how American Indians and Alaska Natives 
                can benefit from them.
                    (f) Research. The Secretary of Education, through 
                the Office of Educational Research and Improvement and 
                the Office of Indian Education, and in consultation 
                with NACIE and participating agencies, shall develop 
                and implement a comprehensive Federal research agenda 
                to:
                    (1) establish baseline data on academic achievement 
                and retention of American Indian and Alaska Native 
                students in order to monitor improvements;
                    (2) evaluate promising practices used with those 
                students; and
                    (3) evaluate the role of native language and 
                culture in the development of educational strategies. 
                Within 1 year, the Secretary of Education shall submit 
                the research agenda, including proposed timelines, to 
                the Task Force.
                    (g) Comprehensive Federal Indian education policy.
                    (1) The Task Force shall, within 2 years of the 
                date of this order, develop a comprehensive Federal 
                Indian education policy to support the accomplishment 
                of the goals of this order. The policy shall be 
                designed to:
                    (A) improve Federal interagency cooperation;
                    (B) promote intergovernmental collaboration; and
                    (C) assist tribal governments in meeting the unique 
                educational needs of their children, including the need 
                to preserve, revitalize, and use native languages and 
                cultural traditions.
                    (2) In developing the policy, the Task Force shall 
                consider ideas in the Comprehensive Federal Indian 
                Education Policy Statement proposal developed by the 
                NIEA and the NCAI.

[[Page 42683]]

                    (3) The Task Force shall develop recommendations to 
                implement the policy, including ideas for future 
                interagency action.
                    (4) As appropriate, participating agencies may 
                develop memoranda of agreement with one another to 
                enable and enhance the ability of tribes and schools to 
                provide, and to coordinate the delivery of, Federal, 
                tribal, State, and local resources and services, 
                including social and health-related services, to meet 
                the educational needs of American Indian and Alaska 
                Native students.
                    (h) Reports. The Task Force co-chairs shall submit 
                the comprehensive Federal Indian education policy, and 
                report annually on the agencies' activities, 
                accomplishments, and progress toward meeting the goals 
                of this order, to the Director of the Office of 
                Management and Budget.

                Sec. 3. Regional partnership forums. The Departments of 
                Education and the Interior, in collaboration with the 
                Task Force and Federal, tribal, State, and local 
                government representatives, shall jointly convene, 
                within 18 months, a series of regional forums to 
                identify promising practices and approaches on how to 
                share information, provide assistance to schools, 
                develop partnerships, and coordinate intergovernmental 
                strategies supportive of accomplishing the goals of 
                this order. The Departments of Education and the 
                Interior shall submit a report on the forums to the 
                Task Force, which may include recommendations relating 
                to intergovernmental relations.

                Sec. 4. School pilot sites. The Departments of 
                Education and the Interior shall identify a reasonable 
                number of schools funded by the Bureau of Indian 
                Affairs (BIA) and public schools that can serve as a 
                model for schools with American Indian and Alaska 
                Native students, and provide them with comprehensive 
                technical assistance in support of the goals of this 
                order. A special team of technical assistance 
                providers, including Federal staff, shall provide 
                assistance to these schools. Special attention shall be 
                given, where appropriate, to assistance in implementing 
                comprehensive school reform demonstration programs that 
                meet the criteria for those programs established by the 
                Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and 
                Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 
                1998 (Public Law 105-78), and to providing 
                comprehensive service delivery that connects and uses 
                diverse Federal agency resources. The team shall 
                disseminate effective and promising practices of the 
                school pilot sites to other local educational agencies. 
                The team shall report to the Task Force on its 
                accomplishments and its recommendations for improving 
                technical support to local educational agencies and 
                schools funded by the BIA.

                Sec. 5. Administration. The Department of Education 
                shall provide appropriate administrative services and 
                staff support to the Task Force. With the consent of 
                the Department of Education, other participating 
                agencies may provide administrative support to the Task 
                Force, consistent with their statutory authority, and 
                may detail agency employees to the Department of 
                Education, to the extent permitted by law.

                Sec. 6. Termination. The Task Force established under 
                section 2 of this order shall terminate not later than 
                5 years from the date of this order.

                Sec. 7. General provisions. This order is intended only 
                to improve the internal management of the executive 
                branch and is not intended to, and does not, create any 
                right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
                enforceable at law or equity by a party against the 
                United States, its agencies or instrumentalities, its 
                officers or employees, or any other person. This order 
                is not

[[Page 42684]]

                intended to preclude, supersede, replace, or otherwise 
                dilute any other Executive order relating to American 
                Indian and Alaska Native education.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    August 6, 1998.

[FR Doc. 98-21643
Filed 8-10-98; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P