NIEA Sends Letter to Administration on School Choice Efforts
On January 29, 2025, the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) sent a letter to Secretary Burgum asking the Administration to uphold the federal government’s trust and treaty responsibility to Indian education as it implements the Executive Order on “Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families.” The letter highlights the importance of Tribal consultation in the planning and execution of any school choice funding programs for Bureau of Indian Education (BIE)-eligible students, emphasizing that such initiatives must not deplete already underfunded Tribal school accounts. NIEA underscores that Tribally Controlled Schools, established through self-determination policy, already provide Native families with school choice, but chronic underfunding has hindered their success. The letter stresses the need for additional, separate funding to support expanded educational opportunities for Native students while safeguarding essential BIE resources.
Letter
RE: Executive Order on Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families
Dear Secretary Burgum,
On behalf of the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) and the schools, educators, students, and Tribal Nations we represent, we would like to begin by recognizing the new Administration’s intent to address many of the systemic issues surrounding the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE or Bureau). As part of this effort, we understand the January 29, 2025 Executive Order (EO) on “Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families” is aims to ensure all students across the Nation can attend the schools of their choosing and engage in high-quality education.
For Indian Education, the oldest educational obligation in the country, we respectfully request Tribal consultation in decisions regarding the planning and implementation of any school choice funding program for BIE-eligible students. Furthermore, we urge the Administration and Congress to ensure that any such program does not deplete the already underfunded accounts supporting Tribal schools.
Nearly 48,000 Native students are enrolled in BIE-operated or Tribally Controlled Schools, established to fulfill the federal government’s trust and treaty responsibility to Indian education. Due to the underfunded, rural, and remote nature of Native communities, Native students often do not have access to the high-quality, culturally-informed education options that their families might prefer, and which would provide opportunities for the future of our Tribal Nations to thrive. The federal guarantee for Indian Education is much older than the U.S. Department of Education and the obligation is clearly laid out in federal statute.
NIEA and our members believe in school choice, in fact the passage of the Tribally Controlled Schools Act of 1988, P.L. 102-97, signed into law by Ronald Regan, which has been a “crucial positive step toward tribal and community control” over education1. The existence of the BIE allows for Tribal citizens across the Nation to have a culturally-specific choice of school in their local Bureau-funded school. These schools are our schools of choice. A grand majority of the Bureau-funded schools, 128 out of 183, are Tribally Controlled, and previous discussions of school choice funding programs have not distinguished between Bureau operated and Tribally Controlled schools. Rooted in treaties between Tribal Nations and the federal government, the US Constitution, and decades of legal precedent, Congress has a direct fiduciary responsibility to provide federal funding for Indian education. This fiduciary responsibility is both to individual Tribal students, but also to the Tribal Nations themselves. This means Tribes must have the tools and resources to exercise control over the education systems in Tribal communities.
Congress has already established a school choice system for Tribal communities through Tribally Controlled Schools within the BIE, as a product of meaningful Self-Determination policy. However, chronic underfunding has prevented its full realization. Therefore, any additional development of school choice programs for Indian children that does not both secure separate funding from that designed for Tribally Controlled Schools while also ensuring adequate and complete funding for BIE, fails congress’ original intent. Further, any Indian education program which is not funded and designed with Tribal Nations at the table could have wide sweeping detrimental impacts on the current Indian Education system, most importantly, it could inadvertently slash critical accounts, such as the Indian School Equalization Program, which both Tribally Controlled and Bureau-operated schools rely on to maintain all core function of the school, including the payment of staff salaries. In many cases there are little to no alternative educational options in nearby areas, other than local public schools. Of the 183 Bureau-funded schools, 168 of them are in rural or remote areas, leaving only 15 in areas which are likely to have any viable alternatives.
However, NIEA is invested in increasing the resources and ensuring there are viable options for every type of school any Native child may want to attend. Many children in Tribal communities, urban, reservation, rural, and remote, move between various types of schools. Children in the same family will attend BIE, public, charter, and private schools, sometimes changing the type of school they attend mid-year. A school choice system must also account for how funds may need to follow students if they are to move between schools. It’s also essential that the school choice program for Indian students does not undermine Tribal sovereignty by sending funds directly set-aside for the fulfilment of the trust responsibility to Indian education to state governments or their education agencies. Instead, we recommend working with appropriators to ensure a different set of funds to solve the issue of educational choice for Native students.
NIEA understands that this issue is time sensitive and requires swift action. We urge you to formally consult with Tribal Nations and to ensure current funding levels for the BIE are not threatened. We look forward to working with both the Administration and congress to fulfil this attempt to ensure all Native students are able to attend the schools of their choice.
Sincerely,
Jason Dropik
Executive Director
The National Indian Education Association
CC:
Jeff Hurd, Chair, House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs
Teresa Leger Fernandez, Ranking Member, House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs
Lisa Murkowski, Chairman, Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
Brian Schatz, Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
Mike Simpson, Chair, House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
Chellie Pingree, Ranking Member, House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
Lisa Murkowski, Chair, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
Jeff Merkley, Ranking Member, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies