2011-06: Request to the US Department of Education for the Immediate Release of the National Advisory Council on Indian Education Report to Congress

WHEREAS, the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) was established in 1970 for the purpose of advocating, planning, and promoting the unique and special educational needs of American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians; and

WHEREAS, NIEA as the largest national Indian organization of American Indian, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiian educators, administrators, parents and students in the United States, provides a forum to discuss and act upon issues affecting the education of Indian and Native people; and

WHEREAS, through its’ unique relationship with Indian nations and tribes, the federal government has established programs and resources to meet the educational needs of American Indians, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiians, residing on and off their reserved or non-reserved homelands; and

WHEREAS, the education of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students is an issue of national importance as well as an issue of paramount importance to American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and communities; and

WHEREAS, the Indian Education Act of 1972, P.L. No. 92-318, 86 Stat. 235 established the National Advisory Council on Indian Education (NACIE), members to be appointed by the President of the United States, with the responsibility to advise the Secretary of Education, U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) on the administration and funding of all American Indian and Alaska Native education programs; and

WHEREAS, the Obama Administration appointed the members of NACIE, which adopted a Charter setting a deadline date of June 30, 2011 for the submission of its required Annual Report to Congress; and

WHEREAS, there has been no report Congressional report published since 2006-07; and

WHEREAS, dissemination of the policy recommendations of the NACIE for American Indian and Alaska Native education is critical for AI/AN communities, policy makers, and stakeholders in the planning and preparation of policy reform; and

WHEREAS, there is a need for the immediate release to the general public of the NACIE report on the Congressional recommendations related to AI/AN education; and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the USDOE shall immediately release the NACIE report to Congress to the general public.