US DOE Office of Indian Education’s Implementation of Indian Education Formula Grants Causes Significant Concern among Local Indian Educators

It has been reported by numerous Indian Education Act formula grantees (Title VII part A; subpart 1) that the US Office of Indian Education (OIE) has been micro managing grantee programatic efforts contrary to the statute. Minnesota School districts faced with the call from the Office of Indian Education that has required Superintendents or other high level administrator to attend have organized a response by circulating resolutions among the urban projects and forwarding the resolutions to their representatives in Congress. The concern comes from the Office of Indian Education focusing on grant programs that have Native language and culture efforts under the view that these efforts must have state accepted standards and that there must exist a formal assessment or test of such efforts.

In the St. Paul Public Schools it is the offering of a Lakota language class that has sparked the government’s concern. The letter sent to the St. Paul Indian Education project told the district to gradually shift their efforts at culture and language to reading and math. This is in spite of the fact that the statute specifically says that its purpose includes meeting the language and culture needs of students. Another concern by the St. Paul Indian Education Program was not only that they were essentially told they could not offer language and culture but that the OIE was micro managing a grant from Washington DC and overriding the required prescribed manner in the statute where by the priorities for their Indian Education program were determined which included a comprehensive needs assessment of American Indian students including their “language and culture needs” and that the program must be developed in consultation with the parents of the Indian students in the district.

The draft resolution which was signed off by the metro Title VII project parent committees and which received support from the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe became a model resolution for other projects statewide as well as in other states. The resolution is as follows:

Indian Education Resolution Regarding Tribal Language and Culture

Whereas, according to Title VII of Public Law 107-110, enacted on January 8, 1992, it is the policy of the United States to fulfill the Federal Government’s unique and continuing trust relationship with and responsibility to the Indian people for the education of Indian children, and

Whereas, it is the purpose of Title VII to support local educational agencies … to meet the unique educational and culturally related academic needs of American Indians, so that such students can meet the same challenging state student academic achievement standards as all other students are expected to meet, and

Whereas, Title VII programs are required to be designed with special regard for the language and cultural needs of the Indian students and

Whereas, Title VII programs may include culturally related activities;

Whereas, President Bush has recognized the unique educational and culturally related academic needs of American Indian and Alaska Native students consistent with the unique political and legal relations of the Federal Government with tribal governments,

Whereas, President Bush’s Executive Order on American Indian and Alaska Native Education (13336) supports tribal sovereignty,

Whereas, the Executive Order states that its purpose is to assist American Indian and Alaska Native students in meeting the challenging student academic standards of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 in a manner that is consistent with tribal traditions, languages, and cultures, and

Whereas, staff of the Office of Indian Education Office, Department of Education does not recognize the unique educational and culturally related academic needs of American Indians and does not allow local educational agencies, in collaboration with Indian Education parent committees, to utilize Title VII funds for this purpose,

Whereas, the Office of Indian Education does not recognize or support the State of Minnesota challenging standards in world languages, social studies or performing arts, and

Whereas, the Office of Indian Education does not recognize educational standards established by Minnesota Tribes,

Now therefore be it resolved that the _­­­­­­­­­­­­________________requests the Congress to direct the Department of Education to allow local educational agencies to meet the culturally related academic needs of American Indian students in a manner consistent with recommendations by Indian Education parent committees and tribal governments.

Be it further resolved that the __________________________________________ requests that this direction occur prior to the FY 2007 grant cycle.


As a result of the resolutions being forwarded to members of Congress, Representative Betty McCollum (D) of the MN Fourth Congressional District among other members of the Native American Caucus in the US House of Representatives including Representatives George Miller Dale Killdee and Stephanie Herseth sent a letter to US Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings reiterating the relevant statutory provisions as well as President Bush’s Executive Order on American Indian and Alaska Native education and asking the Secretary for an explanation. A response would be helpful in light of the significant concern caused among Indian educators nationally by a shift in the federal implementation and management of the Indian Education Act.