Kevin JenningsAssistant Deputy Secretary Director, Office of Safe & Drug-Free Schools Co-Chair, Dept. of Education AI/AN Education Task Force

U.S. Department of EducationFederal Education Priorities and Indian Country

BIE ConventionJune 22, 2010

St. Louis, Missouri

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

1 27

13 1

1. Year of reference 2004.2. Including some ISCED 3C short

programs3. Year of reference 2003.

Source: Organization for Economic Co-operation 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)

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 Went

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

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)

What We are Doing:Goals for ESEA Reauthorization

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."

Importance of follow-up

 "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.

Kevin.Jennings@Ed.gov202-245-7830

Keep in Touch!

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.