Education

Assistant Secretary Kevin Washburn to Keynote MSU ILPC’s 2014 Annual Conference: “Dismantling Barriers in American Indian Education” — Nov. 20, 2014

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

We are pleased to announce that Interior Dept. Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn will serve as our keynote speaker for our 2014 annual conference.KKW

Anita Fineday will serve as our lunchtime speaker.

Our agenda is as follows:

November 20th, 2014

Castle Board Room

8:00am Continental Breakfast

8:30 am Welcome, Dean Joan Howarth

9:00 am Keynote Speaker: Asst. Sec. Kevin Washburn

10:00 am- 11:00 am Boarding School and Intergenerational Trauma: Dr. Suzanne Cross (MSU), Hunter Genia, Saginaw Chippewa Tribe

11:15am-12:15pm Historical and Legal: Nicole Blalock (ASU), Melody McCoy (NARF), April Day (Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton) Moderator, Kristi Bowman (MSU Law)

12:30pm – 1:15pm Lunch, Anita Fineday, Casey Family ProgramsAnita Fineday

1:30pm- 2:30pm Sovereignty and Education: Treena Metallic (First Nations Education Council), Eric Hemenway (Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians), Moderator, Tiffani Darden (MSU Law)

2:30 pm – 3:15 pm Youth Leadership and Outreach: Estrella Torrez (MSU), Emily Proctor (MSU Extension, Little Traverse), Christine Marie Dewey (Little Traverse student), Moderator Jennifer Rosa (MSU Law)

3:30pm – 5:30pm Higher Education Native Student Services: Dr. Tawa Sina (MSU), Dr. Angelique Day (Wayne State), Shelly Lowe (Harvard), Rose Petoskey (Cornell), Melvin Monette (American Indian Graduate Center & National Indian Education Association), Dr. Suzanne Cross (MSU), Moderator, Matthew L.M. Fletcher (MSU Law)

Our conference page is here.

Our conference will follow the day after the School Environment Listening Tour for Native American Students on November 19, 2014.

 

MSU ILPC to Host Dept. of Education School Environment Listening Tour for Native American Students — Nov. 19, 2014

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

The US Dept. of Education’s White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education will be conducting a listening session on Native American students’ educational environment. They will make a stop at MSU’s Kellogg Center Auditorium on Wednesday, November 19, 2014. Events begin at 1 PM and run until 6 PM (TIME CHANGE).

The listening sessions are focusing on school environment issues — bullying, student discipline and offensive imagery and symbolism. The White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education is gathering feedback during the tour and will consider how it can inform future action to ensure Native American students receive a high quality education.

The media advisory is here.

Interested persons may register here (click EAST LANSING). Registration will allow you to be kept informed on the agenda and other details.

Native students are strongly encouraged to attend!

Miigwetch.

Manidoowaadiziwag Ikwewag – Women Are Sacred, Video Raising Awareness of Domestic Violence and Practices for Dealing with DV in Native Communities and Victims with Disabilities

Victoria Sweet

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month.

This documentary film was developed to be an educational and training tool based on the work produced by the Minnesota Accessing Paths to Safety Project.

The film chronicles the the first-hand stories of American Indian woman survivors of sexual violence and domestic abuse with disabilities from the White Earth Nation. Learn about their history and tradition, the impact of historical trauma and intergenerational grief, and the resources available for survivors on and around the reservation.

Link to the video here.

U.S. Department of Education Launches First-Ever School Environment Listening Tour for Native American Students

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

Office of Communications & Outreach, Press Office   

400 Maryland Ave., S.W.

Washington, D.C. 20202                 

MEDIA ADVISORY

EVENT DATE: Friday, Oct 10, 2014

CONTACT: Press Office, (202) 401-1576 or press@ed.gov

 

U.S. Department of Education Launches First-Ever School Environment Listening Tour for Native American Students

Tour stops set for Wisconsin, Michigan, Oklahoma, New York, California, Alaska and Washington state

The White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education (WHIAIANE) and the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights are launching their first-ever school environment listening tour to hear from schools and communities on ways to better meet the unique educational and culturally-related academic needs of Native American students.

The listening sessions will focus on school environment – bullying, student discipline and offensive imagery and symbolism. WHIAIANE will compile the feedback from the tour into a report for President Obama with recommendations on how to ensure that Native American students receive a high quality education.

The first stop on the tour is Friday, Oct. 10, in Franklin, Wisconsin, at the Indian Community School of Milwaukee, followed by another session on Sunday, Oct. 26, in Lacrosse, Wisconsin. Additional listening sessions will be held in coming weeks in Seattle, Washington; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Troy, New York; Los Angeles, California; and Anchorage, Alaska.

Continue reading →

Navajo Boy Sent Home for Having Long Hair on First Day of School

Kate Fort1 Comment

Here is one of many articles.

And here is what the Fifth Circuit has already said about such nonsense regarding the treatment of another 5-year-old in Texas:

A Native American boy and his parents challenge a school district’s requirement that he wear his long hair in a bun on top of his head or in a braid tucked into his shirt. We agree with the district court that the requirement offends a sincere religious belief and hold it invalid under Texas law.

And as @NativeApprops pointed out, one might also check out the name of the district and the mascot where this happened.

NSF funds pilot project aimed at increasing the number of American Indians and Alaska Natives faculty members

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here. An excerpt:

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is funding a new pilot project designed to increase the representation of American Indian and Alaska Natives in tenure track positions.

This pilot project will provide varied types of supportive resources to a select group of American Indian and Alaska Native students who are studying science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) at U.S. colleges and universities. These resources will provide participating students with motivating encouragement, practical skills and intellectual experiences that will help compel them to stay in their chosen STEM field–so that they will earn the necessary academic credentials to land tenure track positions at U.S. colleges and universities.

NSF is awarding $1.5 million over five years to the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) to implement the pilot program, which is called “Lighting the Pathway to Faculty Careers for Natives in STEM.”

Center for American Progress Report on American Indian Mascots

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is “Missing the Point: The Real Impact of Native Mascots and Team Names on American Indian and Alaska Native Youth:” StegmanAIANmascots-reportv2

An excerpt:

Although the debate over the Washington football team may rage on until either the NFL or the team’s owner, Dan Snyder, finally does the right thing and changes the name, there are many things that can be done right now to support AI/AN students in schools that perpetuate harmful stereotypes. Instead of debating merchandise economics and fan sentimentality, it is time to get to the point in this debate and to stop the harm that racist mascots and team names do to AI/AN youth.

Save the Date: Apply to Clerk at NARF by September 29, 2014

Matthew Campbell

Founded in 1970, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) is the oldest and largest nonprofit law firm dedicated to asserting and defending the rights of Indian tribes, organizations, and individuals nationwide. NARF’s practice is concentrated in five key areas: the preservation of tribal existence; the protection of tribal natural resources; the promotion of Native American human rights; the accountability of governments to Native Americans; and the development of Indian law and educating the public about Indian rights, laws, and issues.
Summer Clerkships
NARF is currently seeking candidates for its Summer 2015 Clerkships! Each year, NARF conducts a nation-wide search for law students to participate in its Law Clerk Program. Positions are available in all three of NARF’s offices: Anchorage, AK; Boulder, CO; and Washington, D.C.

Here is the advertisement.

California COA Rules in Favor of American Indian Model Schools in Oakland

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the opinion in American Indian Model Schools v. Oakland Unified School District (Cal. App.):

A139652

An excerpt:

The American Indian Model Schools (AIMS) operates three public charter schools in the City of Oakland (Oakland). The Oakland Unified School District (the District) decided to revoke AIMS’s three charters after an independent audit uncovered evidence of conflict of interest violations, fiscal mismanagement, and improper use of public funds at the three charter schools. Funding of the charter schools was to halt while AIMS appealed the revocation decision.

AIMS filed a writ petition in the superior court against the District and others (collectively, defendants),1 challenging the District’s revocation of its charters. AIMS also requested a preliminary injunction to stop the implementation of the revocation order during the appeal process.
The trial court granted in part AIMS’s request for a preliminary injunction. The court highlighted the outstanding scholastic achievements of the students at AIMS’s three charter schools and the harm these students and schools would suffer if instruction were interrupted and the schools were no longer able to operate. The court concluded that the hardships weighed in favor of granting a preliminary injunction and that AIMS had demonstrated a likelihood of prevailing at trial because the record did not contain substantial evidence that the District complied with the requirements under Education Code section 47607, subdivision (c)(2).2 The court issued a preliminary injunction to maintain the status quo pending resolution of the appeal of the revocation decision.
Defendants appeal from the preliminary injunction order, arguing that the trial court abused its discretion in finding that AIMS is likely to prevail at trial. Defendants maintain that section 47607, subdivision (c)(2) requires the District to consider academic achievement but the trial court incorrectly interpreted this provision as requiring the District to make findings supported by substantial evidence that it complied with this provision. Defendants also challenge the trial court’s interpretation of section 47607, subdivision (i), and claim that issuing an injunction, which requires continued funding to the charter schools during the pendency of AIMS’s appeal, contravenes the mandate of section 47607, subdivision (i). Additionally, defendants maintain that the court failed to give sufficient deference to the District’s decision when it ruled AIMS was likely to prevail on the merits, that the court usurped the jurisdiction of the State Board of Education (the SBE), and that the court should not have issued any ruling in the absence of the California Department of Education (the CDE), which they maintain was an indispensable party.
We are not persuaded by defendants’ arguments and affirm the order granting the preliminary injunction.

Draft Report on Reorganization of Bureau of Indian Education

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here.

an excerpt:

After several discussions with tribal leaders regarding systemic issues within the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), in September 2013, Secretary of the Interior Jewell and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan appointed the American Indian Education Study Group (Study Group) to diagnose the causes of chronic academic failure in BIE-funded schools, one of the lowest-performing set of schools in the country. Charged with developing and implementing recommendations to transform the BIE, the make-up of the Study Group combines management, legal, education, and tribal expertise and ensures that the Study Group’s recommendations are grounded in a comprehensive, institutional understanding of how schools work, how effective teaching and learning occur, and American Indian affairs.