Treaties Violated by lack of Highly Qualified Teachers in American Indian Schools

Fact: Indian Schools cannot fill 10% of teaching positions with highly qualified teachers.
  It seems that the US Government is violating  treaties.

Recalling Arizona and wars and war settlements let us recall the "Long Walk of the Navajo" in 1864.   Navajos were forced to walk up to thirteen miles a day at gunpoint from their reservation in what is now Arizona to eastern New Mexico. Some 53 different forced marches occurred between August 1864 and the end of 1866.  Today  the Navajo are on the largest Rez in the USA.  Part of that Navajo treaty settlement included a commitment from USA Gov to provide schools and schooling to the Navajo nation.   Perhaps Gov policy is welching on that deal.

Each year Tribal schools and Bureau of Indian Education schools have 10% of total teaching positions go unfilled by certified highly qualified teachers throughout the USA.

B.I.E. regulations allow new teachers to bring only six years experience when placed on salary schedule. Teachers would also find that the level of placement by College Credits may be less at BIE schools than at other schools.

So why is this apparent violation of a treaty allowed?

Follow the money… to remedy the teacher vacancy problem would likely require spending. How many current teachers in AZ and other states would decide to teach on the Rez and take a huge salary cut?  Clearly not enough.

If you wish to move to AZ consider Kayenta near scenic Monument Valley, a town of about 5,000 with several teaching vacancies as usual right now. If you don’t like AZ how about teaching in Pine Ridge, SD site of the historic Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890 and American Indian Movement protests in 1973. Seems to me protests are needed today over this Indian Education issue with unfilled teaching vacancies. Apparently just part of the “Trail of Broken Treaties.”

In his 1931 poem “American Names”, Stephen Vincent Benet coined the phrase “Bury my heart at Wounded Knee”, seems USA Education commitments have been buried as well somewhere in Indian Country.

So where is Indian Eduction today?
.. Lots of study and words but little action and few positive results.

Study after study tells us:   to improve a school system’s outcomes for students, three factors matter most: (1) hiring effective teachers and principals; (2) developing teachers and principals continuously; and (3) providing targeted support to ensure every child can benefit from high quality instruction.  

Arne Duncan tells us:  “The President and I believe the future of Indian Country rests on ensuring that your children receive a high-quality education. Improving academic outcomes for Native American children has never been more important. Unfortunately, too many Native American children are not receiving an education that prepares them for college and career success, too few of them are going to college, and far too many of them drop out of high school. We need to do better.”

In 2011  the Tuba City district was able to hire more than 40 international teachers, many from the Philippines, who held special visas.  The influx allowed the schools to reduce class sizes, and  finally be able to replace all long-term substitutes with certified teachers who are trained in the subjects they teach.

So what will the President and Secretary of Education tell us about the situation in Tuba City, AZ where the Superintendent Harold Begay filled positions with Highly Qualified Teachers from the Philippines ... only to have the US Gov regulations require them to leave when their visas ran out.

Tuba City schools had shown great improvement.

Check the comments for the 11 vacancies in Kayenta and the data on schools making adequate yearly progress as well as the percent of Indian schools under restructuring after years of low performance.