U.S. Department of Education
Federal Education Priorities and Indian Country
BIE Convention
June 22, 2010
St. Louis, Missouri
Kevin Jennings
Assistant Deputy Secretary
Director, Office of Safe & Drug-Free Schools CoChair, Dept. of Education AI/AN Education Task
Force
What’s the goal at ED?
President Obama:
“Produce a higher
percentage of college
graduates than any other
country in the world by the
end of the next decade.”
Why is this Important?
Know Your History
Reasons for America’s Rise to Power
19th Century:
First free public school
system in the world
20th Century:
GI Bill: Biggest Investment in
Higher Ed in History
Effects:
Created the most educated,
knowledgeable citizenry that
the world had ever seen.
Education Determines Earnings
Median Earnings for Population Age 25-64 by Education Attainment, 2006
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006 American Community Survey PUMS File.
More Education, Longer Life
Source: National Longitudinal Mortality Study, 1988-1998
The US is Falling Behind in HS Graduation Rates
Approximate percentage of persons with high school or equivalent qualifications in the age group 25-64
13
1
1
27
1. Year of reference 2004.
2. Including some ISCED 3C short programs
3. Year of reference 2003.
Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD),
Education at a Glance 2008
U.S. : Higher Ed Leader in the Sixties, the Laggard Today
Percent of Adults with an Associate Degree or Higher by Age Group - U.S. & Leading OECD Countries
Source: OECD, Education at a Glance 2008
American Indians Lag Significantly in Graduation Rates
Averaged Freshman Graduation Rates, by race/ethnicity, 2007-08
Source: National Center for Education Statistics, 2007-08 Common Core of Data.
AI/AN Have Highest Drop Out Rates
Dropout Rate, by race/ethnicity, 2007-08
Source: National Center for Education Statistics, 2007-08 Common Core of Data.
Let’s be blunt…
Our schools are failing in their
obligation to serve American
Indian/Alaska Native students
"Kill the Indian to save the man"
Richard
Henry
Pratt
On November 5, 2009,
President Obama signed a
memorandum on Tribal
Consultation, directing each
executive department to
develop a detailed plan of
action to implement Executive
Order 13175 on Consultation
and Coordination with Indian
Tribal Governments.
Secretary Duncan initiates first-ever consultations
between Department of Education and Tribal Leaders
Where We Went, Where we are Going
Where We Went

2009: Listening sessions
at Tribal schools in
Montana, New Mexico,
North Dakota
(Secretary Duncan,
senior officials).
Jan 2010: Meeting with Indian education experts to
discuss improving education for Indian students
(Secretary Duncan, Senior officials, Interior Secretary
Ken Salazar).
Where We Went



March 2010: Secretary Duncan held a national
teleconference with Tribal leaders regarding ESEA
reauthorization.
April 2010: Visit to schools at the Cook Inlet Tribal
Council in Anchorage, Alaska (Assistant Secretary
Thelma Melendez, other senior officials)
April 19, 2010: Consultation with Tribal officials in
Shawnee, Oklahoma (General Counsel Charlie Rose
and Assistant Deputy Secretary Kevin Jennings)
Where We Went


April 28, 2010: Consultation at Pine Ridge High
Schoolon the Pine Ridge Reservation, South
Dakota (General Counsel Charlie Rose, Deputy
Assistant Secretaries Carl Harris & Frank Chong)
May 3, 2010: Consultation at the Santa Clara
Day School, Espanola reservation, New Mexico
(Under Secretary Martha Kanter, Senior officials)
Where We are Going
June 30, 2010: Navajo Nation (Window
Rock, AZ)
July 15, 2010: Puyallup Tribe (Puyallup,
WA)
What We Heard:
Tribal Education Issues




Lack of high-quality, reliable data on AI/AN
students
Dilapidated schools - many schools located on
reservations are old and never renovated
High rates violence, alcohol and drug abuse, and
unemployment
Difficulty of teacher recruitment and retention
 Need
for “grow your own” teacher programs that train
Tribal citizens to teach in their own schools.
What We Heard:
Need Federal-State-Tribal Collaboration


Greater collaboration between the Departments of
Education and Interior
Elevate and fund Tribal Education Agencies
 Difficult


for Tribes to compete with States for funding
Allow States and Tribes to consider Native
languages as foreign languages
Increase support for Native language programs
What We are Doing:
Goals for ESEA Reauthorization

Preparing college- and career-ready students
 School
Turnaround Grants program ($900 million), from
which BIE would receive a share of funds to turn around
persistently low-performing schools
 Strengthen Tribal Education Agencies (TEAs) Mechanism to
increase Federal-State-Tribal collaboration
 Provide
TEAs with targeted technical assistance and data about
Indian students.

Great teachers and leaders in every school
 Administration’s
proposal includes $405 million for teacher
& leader recruitment and retention programs
What We are Doing:
Goals for ESEA Reauthorization

Equity and opportunity for all students
 Continue
foundational formula funding in Title I and
Title II-A, and formula funding in the Rural Education,
Indian Education, and English Learner Education
programs.
 Allow schools serving Indian students to implement
locally designed strategies to improve student
achievement
 Support
for Native language restoration and immersion
programs
 Greater flexibility in Indian Education Program (allow Tribes
to apply for grants when districts don’t)
Importance of follow-up
The Trail of Broken Treaties
Since 1787, over 750 land cessions have
been authorized by supposed mutual
compacts. History demonstrates there was
little that was mutual about these "treaties."
"We would like to work with you. We
don't want to see you work for us
anymore, but to work with us, and that's
part of the spirit that we talk about is
working together."
Pine Ridge, South Dakota on April 28,
2010 by Chairman, Taken Alive
President Obama
Few have been more marginalized and ignored by Washington for as long as
Native Americans -- our First Americans.
We know the history that we share. It's a history marked by violence and disease
and deprivation. Treaties were violated. Promises were broken. You were told
your lands, your religion, your cultures, your languages were not yours to
keep. And that's a history that we've got to acknowledge if we are to move
forward.
We also know our more recent history; one in which too often, Washington thought
it knew what was best for you...
I know that you may be skeptical that this time will be any different. You have
every right to be …
I get it. I'm on your side. I understand what it means to be an outsider…even
though our experiences are different, I understand what it means to be on the
outside looking in. I know what it means to feel ignored and forgotten, and what it
means to struggle. So you will not be forgotten as long as I'm in this White House.
Keep in Touch!
Kevin.Jennings@Ed.gov
202-245-7830
Citations
Gudzune, Jeffrey R. Long Chain of Abuses: Broken
Treaties. Suite 101, 2007.
National Longitudinal Mortality Study, 1988-1998.
Center on Social Disparities in Health, University of
CA, San Francisco. Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation, 2008.
Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD), Education at a Glance 2008.
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey
PUMS File, 2006.
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for
Education Statistics. Common Core of Data: School
Year 2007-08.