125th Morrison Congress

2nd Session

S. 125-0

Title of the Bill: Native American Education Act

Main Author(s): Sen. Jonathan Lin (D-OR)

Co-Sponsor(s): Rep. Yaelle Lee (D-WA), Rep. Maggie Ku (D-HI)

BE IT ENACTED BY THE MORRISON CONGRESS

1 SECTION 1: Findings
2 Congress makes the following findings:
3 1) The percentage of Native American students considered to be economically
4 disadvantaged increased from 69 percent to 75 percent in the last year (I.)
5 2) More than 6,000 Native American students in Oregon qualify for free and
6 reduced lunch due to family income. (I.)
7 3) Oregon's Native American students are graduating at about 56 percent,
8 compared to the state's overall four-year graduation rate of 74.8 percent. (I.)
9 4) Native American graduation rates nationwide is only 67% (II.)
10 5) Chronic absenteeism rate for Native students is about 30% (I.)
11 6) At Washington Elementary School in Pendleton, Oregon, 34 percent of
12 Native American students missed too much school during the 2016-17 school
year, compared to 19 percent the year before. (I.)
13
7) Native American students average ACT scores have declined to a 17.9
14
according to the 2016 national report by the ACT. (III.)
15
8) 45% of Native American students nationwide met neither SAT performance
16 benchmarks (ERW and Math), the second highest ranked by ethnicity. (IV.)
17 9) The mean SAT score of Native American students is a 963, second lowest
18 ranked by ethnicity. (IV.)
19 10) According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the
20 average reading score for Native American students in 8th grade is 251. The
21 proficient score is a 281. The average mathematics score for Native
22 American students in 8th grade is 269. The proficient score is a 299. (V.)
23 11) There is a lack of culturally-relative curriculum, a lack of Native American
24 teachers and staff in schools, and a gap in services available to the families
25 along. (I.)
26 12) According to a State of Racial Diversity in the Educator Workforce by the
27 Department of Education, the proportion of teachers who were American
28 Indian or Alaska Native dropped from roughly 1 percent to half a percent.
29 (VI.)
30 13) 28.3% of single-race American Indians and Alaska Natives were in poverty in
31 2014, the highest rate of any race group. (VII.)
32
33 SECTION 2: Purpose
34 Integrate a culturally-relative curriculum and increase funding for training programs
35 for educators who commit to teaching in Native American or Bureau of Indian
36 Education (BIE) schools. Increase financial aid for Native American families.
37 Increase student performance and graduation rates.
38
39 SECTION 3: General Provisions
To address the lack of culturally-relative curriculum, Native American culture will be
40
integrated into lessons.
 41 To increase the number of Native American staff and teachers at school, this bill
42 increases funding for training programs for educators in Native American or BIE
43 schools will be increased
44 To encourage student attendance in school and to aid families who cannot pay for
45 children's schooling, the bill provides financial aid for families with an income of
46 $37,227 or below.
47 To increase academic performance of Native American students and to increase
48 their standardized test scores.
49 To increase graduation rates among Native American students.
50
51
52 SECTION 4: Definitions
Student performance: including but not limited to standardized test scores and
53
grades
54
BIE: Bureau of Indian Education
55
Culturally-relative curriculum: Including but not limited to Native American history,
56
language, and local issues.
57 Standardized tests: Including but not limited to the ACT and SAT
58 Native American: Including Alaskan Natives and Native Hawaiians
59 Chronic absenteeism: Missing 10 percent or more of a school year
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70

Works Cited:
I. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/oregon/articles/2017-11-29/oregons-
native-american-students-face-education-challenges
II. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/18/native-american-
education_n_5593253.html
III. https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/P_99_999999_N_S_N00
_ACT-GCPR_National.pdf
IV. https://reports.collegeboard.org/sat-suite-program-results/class-2017-results
V. https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reading_math_2013/#/gains-by-group
VI. https://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/highered/racial-diversity/state-racial-diversity-
workforce.pdf
VII. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/facts-for-features/2015/cb15-ff22.html