Sec. 301. Findings
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Congress finds that— Native American students experience discernible disparities in access to educational opportunities compared to their non-Native-American peers; and those disparities in educational opportunities— have a profound impact on the social and economic opportunities and well-being of Native American students and Native American communities; and mean that Native American students are likely to experience disproportionate levels of discipline while in school that leads to those students being suspended or expelled, increasing the likelihood of those students to be involved in the school-to-prison pipeline; the Federal Government has failed in its trust obligation to provide educational services that address the unique situation of Native American students; a majority of Native American students attend public schools, many of which lack curricula that provide historically accurate and culturally competent representation or discussion of Native Americans and their history in the United States; and the failure to include historically accurate and culturally competent curricula leads to a lack of understanding for all students of the history and contributions of Native Americans;
Native American students make up 1.1 percent of students attending public schools; Native American students have the lowest high school graduation rates and the lowest scores on reading and mathematics elementary and secondary school standardized tests; students attending schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (referred to in this title as Bureau-funded schools ) have lower academic scores than their non-Native American peers who attend public school; and educational disparities continue into higher education, with only 16 percent of Native American students obtaining a bachelor’s degree compared to the national average of 36 percent of individuals in the same age group; the enactment of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act ( 25 U.S.C. 5301 et seq. ) allowed federally recognized Indian Tribes to contract with the Bureau-funded schools and provide education programs; with 183 Bureau-funded schools, the Bureau of Indian Education is obligated to provide culturally relevant, high-quality education opportunities to Native American students; and Bureau-funded schools consistently struggle to recruit and retain qualified and effective teachers due to noncompetitive salaries, isolated rural settings, difficult work environments, lack of job opportunities for spouses and partners, and marginal housing opportunities; and American Indian and Alaska Native tribally chartered colleges and universities (referred to in this section as TCUs ) were established beginning in the late 1960s due to the failure of the United States higher education system to include American Indians; in addition to providing place-based and culturally grounded higher and career and technical education, TCUs are charged with preserving and revitalizing Tribal cultures, languages and lands, and strengthening Tribal sovereignty; and TCUs face significant challenges and inequities, including— the lack of adequate operating funding from the Department of the Interior; the inability to grow endowments; and a disproportionate number of students living in poverty, suffering food and housing insecurity, and unprepared for post-secondary education.
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