A group of education leaders from tribal organizations spoke Wednesday at a U.S. Senate hearing against the dissolution of the federal Department of Education – and for protecting programs that support Indigenous students.
The hearing followed an executive order President Trump signed last month that aims to close the department.
Advocates outline benefits of culture-based programs
Rosita Yeidiklasókw Ḵaaháni Worl, the president of Sealaska Heritage Institute, was one of the witnesses at the hearing. Worl, who is Tlingit or Łingít, spoke about the persistent lack of education funding, especially in Alaska, given the state’s fiscal situation.
“Despite these challenges, we can confidently state that through our culture-based programs that we have integrated into schools with DOE funding, we have witnessed measurable educational achievement among Native students, as well as improvements in their social and emotional well-being,” Worl said.
Examples of programs funded by the department include Baby Raven Reads, Worl said. That’s an early literacy initiative that helps Alaska Native students see their culture and lifestyle – such as picking berries and fishing – reflected in educational materials.
Nationally, Native students’ scores continue to trail behind reported averages for all students. Worl noted that since Baby Raven Reads’ implementation in Southeast Alaska, students’ reading scores have improved. Juneau students who attended another culture-based program funded by the department – Tlingit Culture, Language, and Literacy – also showed better scores than those who didn’t attend it, she said.
Another speaker at the hearing was Sydna Yellowfish, the director of Indian Education at Edmond Public Schools in Oklahoma. She said that funding through the department is important for addressing high rates of suicide and sexual assault among Native students, as well as experiences such as homelessness, foster care and substance abuse.
“I feel like we are obligated to address these challenges and work with our students and our families as the best that we can,” Yellowfish said.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who co-led the oversight hearing, highlighted programs that fund tutoring, language initiatives and post-secondary education opportunities for Native students. She also pointed to the Alaska Native Education Program that supports curricula and cultural activities.
“(There are) so many of the programs that have been directed to and really intended to benefit our Native students, whether it's at the Baby Raven Reads level or all the way up to our tribal colleges,” Murkowski said. “We need to make progress on the ground, and we owe it to our Native kids across the country.”
A legal obligation
Murkowski said that the department’s programs help the government fulfill its federal Indian trust responsibility – a legal obligation to protect Indigenous people’s rights and well-being. She said that it includes Native students across the country, more than 90% of whom attend public schools.
Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii who co-led the hearing with Murkowski, said that if the Education Department is dismantled, Native students “will be at the mercy of state governments that have no trust and treaty responsibility to meet their unique needs.”
“Eliminating the Department of Education would lead to fewer choices and tremendous instability, high poverty and smaller schools, especially those in rural Native communities,” Schatz said. “This is not permissible under the law.”
Murkowski said one proposed workaround is to transfer the department’s programs to other agencies and to administer funding through the states. But she and several speakers noted that such a transition could be detrimental to tribal sovereignty and lead to additional bureaucratic hurdles and delays.
Worl pointed out that in Alaska, a group of Native students sued the state in the 1970s saying that it failed its constitutional responsibility to provide education to Alaska Natives. While the state built schools in rural communities as a result of the Molly Hootch case, Worl said today, many of the rural school facilities are falling apart.
“We have schools that have been in disrepair. Students should not be in those schools,” Worl said. “I just don't think Native education is a high priority there. I would not support it going to the state.”
