Final Tribal Consultation on the Bureau of Indian Education Elementary and Secondary Education Act Flexibility Request

BISMARCK, N.D. —Government-to-government tribal consultation will occur Friday, July 27, 2012 in Bismarck regarding a proposal that would help the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) achieve the objectives of President Obama’s Executive Order 13592 concerning improving educational opportunities provided to American Indian and Alaska Native students.

The proposal would empower tribes to exercise greater control over education and reestablish tribal sovereignty through the adoption of Common Core Standards and allow tribally focused standards addressing language, culture and history; moving away from state standards and assessments. Additionally, by allowing BIE to utilize an accountability system based on a unitary set of academic standards and assessments in BIE-funded schools the BIE could move away from the current structure of reporting on 23 states’ standards and assessments.

In February 2012, the U.S. Department of Education began granting flexibility waivers from the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). Forty-two states have submitted flexibility waiver requests and 19 of those states include BIE schools. In exchange for these flexibility waivers the states have agreed to implement bold reforms around standards and accountability, which include raising standards, improving accountability, and generally implementing essential changes to improve teacher effectiveness. The Department of Education’s decision to provide these flexibility waivers followed extensive efforts to work with Congress to amend requirements that the NCLB introduced into the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). The ESEA is five years overdue for reauthorization.

More information and materials can be found at: http://www.bie.edu/consultation/index.htm

CREDENTIALS: All media must present government-issued photo I.D. (such as a driver’s license) and valid media credentials.

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