Bills moving on a new Indian education agency, language programs, early childhood education, a Commission on Native Children, and construction of schools.

Bureaucratic structures

 Senator Barrasso, chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA) introduced the RAISE Act, S.2580, to restructure the administration of Indian Education. After discussions with the leadership of the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Indian Education, he modified the bill and introduced an “amendment in the nature of a substitute,” which the SCIA approved on May 11.

The modified bill creates a separate budget for school construction, at $130 million per year (the amount currently allocated to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) for that purpose.) The bill also appears to clarify roles and expectations of various collaborators in the BIA structure. The authorization language in the bill appears to cap Indian education funding at current levels for future years, however, while unmet needs are likely to grow.

School structures

The SCIA approved S. 2468, the SAFETY Act,  introduced by Senators Tester and Cantwell. The bill directs the Department of the Interior to set up a 5-year demonstration program providing direct grants to tribes to construct, renovate, or reconstruct tribal schools, subject to “available appropriations.” The bill also authorizes $5 million for improvement in tribal colleges’ physical plant equipment, and another $5 million to provide or renovate housing for faculty working in schools with Indian children. Finally, the bill directs the Bureau of Indian Education and the Office of Management and Budget to come up with a 10 year plan to bring all BIE schools to an acceptable standard. 

Representative Ann Kirkpatrick of Arizona has introduced an identical bill (H.R. 4744), which has been referred to the House Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs.

Native languages

The Native Educator Support and Training (NEST) Act (S. 1928), introduced last year by Senators Tester, Heinrich, and Franken, was approved by the SCIA in late April. This bill establishes three scholarship programs, a grant program, and a loan forgiveness program for aspiring teachers who commit to work in Native-serving or tribal schools for specified periods of time. 

The committee also approved the reauthorization of the Native American Languages Program, S. 1163. This program operates with the Administration for Native Americans at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure the survival and continuing vitality of Native American languages.

Children’s bills

The Senate Committee passed S. 2304, introduced by Senators Tester and Schatz, to set up demonstration programs to support early childhood education consistent with tribal values and traditions, and to increase collaboration among family support systems and services dealing with young Indian children. The projects will identify barriers to collaboration among services, and provide models of innovation that incorporate native languages and practices in high quality early childhood programs. There is no new funding authorized for the demonstration programs; rather the funding stream is drawn from the budgets of the agencies that would be collaborating on these projects.

A broader bill, S. 246, introduced last year by Senator Heitkamp has already passed the full Senate and was heard in the House Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs last week. This bill sets up a high level “Commission on Native Children” to examine the collaboration among all federal agencies that affect the lives of Native children, to find efficiencies and to close gaps in attention to the serious problems faced by Native families. 

Senator Heitkamp testified on her bill (at mark 1:00 on the video) before the House sub-committee; the subcommittee has not yet acted on it. 

Representative Betty McCollum of Minnesota introduced a related bill, H.R. 2751, also last year. Her bill has been referred to the same subcommittee.