Committee Holds Virtual Member Briefing on How the Administration’s Failed COVID-19 Response has Hurt Native Students
WASHINGTON – Today, the Committee held a virtual briefing to examine the impact of COVID-19 on the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) and tribally controlled schools, and how the federal government has failed to serve Native students.
The federal government has a legal obligation to provide elementary and secondary education to Native American children associated with tribes. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Native American students were deprived of critical educational resources and support. The briefing, entitled “Looked Over and Left Behind: How the Administration’s Failed COVID-19 Response Has Hurt Native Students,” focused on how these inequities have been exacerbated.
“No matter which way you look at it, the federal government’s failure to support Native American children is a failure to honor our centuries-old promise: to provide for the health, safety, and education,” said Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott.
The briefing included testimony from Darrick Franklin, Program Manager for the Navajo Nation Department of Diné Education and Kevin Allis, Chief Executive Officer for the National Congress of American Indians.
Watch the full briefing here.
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