In support of requesting that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) provide technical assistance and training on appeal process and act on existing appeals in accordance with 25 CFR SEC.2

WHEREAS, The National Indian Education Association (NIEA) was established in 1969 for the purpose of advocating, planning, and promoting the unique and special education needs of American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians, and

WHEREAS, NIEA is the largest national Indian organization of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian educators, administrators, parents and students in the United States, provides a forum to discuss and act upon issues affecting the education of Indian and Native people; and

WHEREAS, through its unique political relationship wlth Indian nations and tribes, the federal government has established programs and resources to meet the educational needs of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiians residing on and off their reserved or non-reserved homelands; and

WHEREAS, BIA funded schools have received Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) funds (Improving America’s Schools/No Child Left Behind) originating in the Department of Educatlon; and

WHEREAS, options for restructuring described in the Office of Indian Education Programs (OIEP) Preliminary State Plan are more limited than those for public schools, and may have profound effect on the autonomy, governance, and daily operations of tribal schools throughout the United States; and

WHEREAS, the BIA Office of Indian Education Programs has a responsibility to provide timely information, technical assistance, and training leading to data-driven decision making and school improvements; and

WHEREAS, any school placed in a category of school improvement under NCLB would be designated ·as such in part due to previous actions under the Improving America’s Schools act; and

WHEREAS, any school placed in a category of school improvement under NCLB would be designated as such in part due to previous actions under the Improving America’s Schools act (spring scores in 2001, 2000, 1999, and 1998); and

WHEREAS, in a letter to the schools on October 11, 2001, the OIEP Director clarified standards and measures, but prior to that time determinations of whether a school made adequate yearly progress (AYP) were not made through a unified reporting standard, but were sometimes made on the basis of dissimllar assessment measures, for example: criterion referenced, norm referenced, and portfolio measures which resulted in inappropriate or indeterminate “school improvement status: in the years leading up to the present determinations of “school improvement status: under NCLB; and

WHEREAS, many BIA funded schools were not informed of their scl1ool improvement status under Improving America’s School Act (IASA), and were therefore denied the opportunity to review or appeal that status which in many cases has a direct bearing on present determinations, and;

WHEREAS, under 25 CFR, part 2, schools have a right to appeal administrative actions, and under NCLSB Sec. 1116(b )(2), schools have an “Opportunity to review (decisions to place a school in school improvement) and present evidence”, and the OIEP preliminary state plan provides for a hearing process in regards to school improvement determinations; and

WHEREAS, schools may wish to appeal their present school improvement categorization and some schools are reporting that existing appeals have not been acted on in a timely manner; and have been pending in excess of 60 days;

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED1 that the NIEA hereby request that the Office of Indian Education Programs provide a written protocol and timelines for schools placed in any category of school improvement to review data, present evidence, appeal, and have opportunity to hearing; and

BE IT FUTURE RESOLVED, that the NIEA hereby request that the BIA clarify the status of any pending appeals and follow through with timelines identified in 25 CFR, part 2, and NCLB, Sec. 116(b)(2), or other relevant rules and regulations; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NIEA hereby requests that no BIA funded school Consolidated School Reform Plan (CSRP) amendment and budget request shall be delayed to a review or appeal that is in-process; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NIEA shall hereby introduce a resolution at the National Congress of American Indian’s 2003 Annual Meeting similarly supporting requests that OIEP fully comply with procedures set forth in 25 CFR, part 2, and under NCLB, Sec. 1116(b)(2).

SUBMITTED BY: Ray Lorton, Quinault

CERTIFICATION

I do hereby certify that the foregoing resolution was duly considered and passed by the NIEA Board of Directors at its November 1-5, convention in Greensboro, North Carolina at which time a quorum was present.