President Bush Signs American Indian And Alaska Native Education Executive Order

In a special ceremony at the White House, President George W. Bush signed an Executive Order on American Indian and Alaska Native Education. Signed on April 30, 2004, the Executive Order recognizes the unique and culturally related academic needs of American Indian and Alaska Native students consistent with the unique political relationship of the Federal government with Tribal governments.

The White House and the U.S. Department of Education developed the Executive Order in consultation with the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) with the goal of assisting American Indian and Alaska Native students in meeting the challenging student academic standards of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 in a manner that is consistent with Tribal traditions, languages and cultures.

The order builds on the innovations, reforms and high standards of the No Child left Behind Act of 2001, including: stronger accountability for results; greater flexibility in the use of federal funds; more choices for parents; and an emphasis on research-based instruction that works with respect to American Indian and Alaska Native students.

The executive order establishes a federal inter-agency working group that will develop a comprehensive Federal plan for improving Native student performance to meet the standards established in the No Child Left Behind Act. To accomplish this task, the Group may consult with NAIE and with representatives of American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes and organizations. The Working Group will then develop an agenda for a multi-year study, with the overall goal of improving Native students' ability to meet the academic standards of the No Child Left Behind Act.

The co-chairs of the Working Group, the Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Interior, are to issue a report to the President on the latest data from the study and on "what works" for improving Native student academic achievement. The co-chairs will also be working on ways to develop and enhance the capacity of tribal governments, tribal universities and colleges, and schools and educational programs serving Native student and communities to carry out education research, including in partnership with non-Tribal institutions.

The executive order also mandates a multi-year study of Native education and provides for a National Conference to bring together Federal, Tribal, State and Local governments to work on improving the delivery of Indian education. The study will also include studying efforts to strengthen early childhood education, such as Head Start, so that Native students enter school ready to learn.

Additionally, the order addresses sovereignty issues and specifically recognizes the unique political and legal relationship the United States has with Indian tribes and Alaska Natives. It commits the United States to work with tribes on a government-to-government basis, and specifically supports tribal sovereignty and tribal self-determination

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For more information on the National Indian Education Association, please visit www.niea.org.

For more information about the National Indian Head Start Directors Association, please visit www.nihsda.org.