Copyright 2000 eMediaMillWorks, Inc.
(f/k/a Federal
Document Clearing House, Inc.)
Federal Document Clearing House
Congressional Testimony
March 21, 2000, Tuesday
SECTION: CAPITOL HILL HEARING TESTIMONY
LENGTH: 3840 words
HEADLINE:
TESTIMONY March 21, 2000 BRENT GISH PRESIDENT NATIONAL INDIAN IMPACTED SCHOOLS
ASSOCIATIONS HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN
SERVICES, AND EDUCATION LABOR HHS APPROPRIATIONS
BODY:
NATIONAL INDIAN IMPACTED SCHOOLS ASSOCIATION Statement of NATIONAL INDIAN
IMPACTED SCHOOLS ASSOCIATION on the FY 2001 Department of Education's Impact Aid
Budget Presented to the HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE ON LABOR, HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION March 21, 2000 The National Indian Impacted
Schools Association represents public school districts which contain Indian
trust land and Alaska Native lands. The Impact Aid program provides federal
funds for public school operations that would have otherwise been provided by
local tax revenues but for the presence of federal property -- in our case,
primarily lands held in trust by the federal government for Indian tribes. The
Impact Aid program is administered through the Department of Education.
Approximately 90% of Indian and Alaska Native elementary and secondary students
nationwide attend public schools. Most of the remaining 10% of students attend
Bureau of Indian Affairs-system schools whose operating budgets come through BIA
appropriations. Summary of Request. We ask the Subcommittee to recommend the
following with regard to the FY 2001 Department of Education budget: * Impact
Aid Basic Support Payments - - $818 million for Impact Aid Basic Support
payments under Section 8003(b) of the Impact Aid statute. This is the same as
the request of the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools (NAFIS)
and is 10.9% over the FY 2000 enacted level. e Impact Aid Facility Repair -- $25
million under the authority of Section 8007 of the Impact Aid statute for
payments for facility repair, renovation and construction. 'this is the same as
the request of NAFIS and compares to the FY 2000 enacted level of $10.1 million
and the Administration's request of $5 million. While this is termed a
"construction" account in the authorizing statute, the funds are distributed by
formula to schools, making the amount individual school districts receive so
miniscule that it cannot make a significant impact on facility construction
needs. In FY 2000, $3 million was earmarked by Congress for three specific
schools. We strongly support enactment and funding of school
construction legislation to assist public school districts who,
because of the presence of Indian lands, have little ability to raise revenue. *
Forward Funding of Impact Aid. Impact Aid is one of the few major federal
education programs which are not forward funded. Even if we were not
experiencing delays in distribution of Impact Aid funds as we are now, it would
be enormously helpful for planning and budgeting purposes for the program to be
forward funded. The Impact Aid Program in Indian Country. For Indian country,
the Impact Aid program is a vital element of the public policy of providing
every child a free public education. Signed into law in 1950, the Impact Aid
program is one of the oldest federal education programs. Simply put, it provides
federal funds for public school operations that would have otherwise been
provided by local tax revenues but for the presence of federal property -- in
our case, lands held in trust by the federal government for Indian tribes. One
of the great attributes about the Impact Aid program is that it provides
flexible funds to school districts. Because Impact Aid funds are actually in
lieu of a property tax base, it is logical that they are not geared toward
specific program use. The Impact Aid program is an example of the U.S.
government carrying out its trust responsibility -- in this case, for education
-- for Indian and Alaska Native peoples. Some facts about the Impact Aid program
in Indian Country: - There are over 600 school districts throughout the country
which receive Impact Aid funds for Indian lands schools. - Funds for Indian
lands students represent nearly 50% of the federal Impact Aid appropriation. -
The Indian Country land base that generates Impact Aid funds consists of 53
million acres of Indian trust land in the lower 48 states and 44 million acres
included in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. - The Impact Aid program
provides a formal link between tribal governments and public schools, providing
for school district consultation with Indian tribes and tribal communities. This
is especially important because public schools are State institutions, but
located within tribal boundaries. School districts must consult with tribes and
the Indian community to develop Indian Policies and Procedures (IPP). Tribes and
parents of Indian students are able to comment on whether Indian students are
equal participants in educational programs and school activities, and to request
modifications in school programs and materials. Tribes also have administrative.
appeal rights under the statute. The Level of Impact Aid Effects Student
Performance -- the Santee School Experience. We would like to give you an
example of how increased Impact Aid funds resulted in dramatic academic
improvement for the students of the Santee School District. On March 17, 1999
the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Youth and
Families held a hearing on reauthorization of the Impact Aid program at which
Chuck Squier, Superintendent of the Santee School, testified. The Santee School
District in northeast Nebraska is made up of entirely Indian trust lands and its
students are Santee Sioux. Superintendent Squier testified about the impressive
student gains which have been made since his school district has received an
increase in Impact Aid funds. Prior to 1995 the school district had been
receiving only 60 to 70% of the amount of Impact Aid for which it was eligible.
Reading scores had dropped during the previous three years: 1st grade scores
dropped from 1.8 to 1.2 GME'; 8th grade scores dropped from 7.4 to 5.9 GME, and
11th grade scores dropped from 10.2 to 9.4 GME. In an effort to reverse this
trend, the school district formed a Curriculum Committee composed of school
staff, parents and other community members. They reviewed current research on
ways to improve student reading and decided on a plan of action which included
teacher training, a reading management system, multiple copies of books, a daily
focus on reading and ninth hour tutoring. Specific programs included reading
recovery, accelerated reader, school at the center, foss science, and project
read. However, the recommendations of the Curriculum Committee were not able to
be implemented because of lack of money. But when the Impact Aid program was
re-authorized in 1994, Impact Aid funding increased for the Santee Sioux school.
The school district was able to use that money to leverage additional grant
dollars for teacher training and research- based reading programs and the rest
of the plan recommended by the Curriculum Committee. The plan was implemented.
Students are tested in the fall and in the spring, and the results have been
very impressive. Last year, 28% of the students in grades 3-12 increased their
reading level two grade levels. Another 25% of students raised their reading
level 1.5 or more grade levels, and 36% of students raised their reading level 1
or more grade levels. Particularly gratifying was the 9th grade results, as this
class had declining scores for the previous three years. Expansions of the
school-wide reading program are planned for next year, along with rewriting the
math/science studies/language arts curriculum -- financial resources permitting.
The Santee School District program is shared through the Nebraska Native
American consortium) which serves 98% of all students in Nebraska living on
tribal lands. The Impact Aid Program Should Be Forward Funded. We urge Congress
to take the long overdue step of providing appropriations to forward fund the
Impact Aid program. Other major education programs, e.g., Title I, Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act, and Bureau of Indian Affairs school operations,
are forward funded. Public school administrators in heavily impacted districts
must make very difficult and risky program and personnel decisions for the
upcoming school year or the next school year without knowing how much Impact Aid
funding they will be receiving. For many Indian lands schools, Impact Aid is the
primary source of school operations funding and the schools would close without
it. While school administrators cope with this system, it makes much more sense
for a school administrator to know 6-12 months prior to the beginning of the
school year what its budget will be. For example, in Minnesota we are required
to sign contracts for tenured teachers by April 15 th for the upcoming school
year. For non-tenured teachers, we must sign contracts by June 1 for the Fall
term. Because Impact Aid is not forward funded, we must sign contracts for
tenured teachers 4 1/2 months prior to the knowing the amount of money we will
receive - and that is under circumstances when we have a Labor-HHS-Education
Appropriations bill which is signed by October 1st - a rare occurrence, as you
know. When the government shut down several years ago, Impact Aid schools had to
borrow money just to stay open and had to pay large amounts of interest -- tens
of thousands of dollars for some schools -- for which they were not reimbursed.
Some Impact Aid schools are in the position now of having to borrow money
because of problems at the Department of Education resulting in chronically late
Impact Aid payments. We know that Congress understands this problem because it
has made most federal education programs forward funded. Impact Aid is a program
of basic support for schools - it hires the teachers, pays the utility bills,
transports students, etc. and this makes it all the more urgent for it to be
forward funded. We realize that the first year of forward funding will strain
the appropriations process as Congress would have to make available two years
worth of funding. On the other hand, we have a budget surplus and there is
support from the Administration and both parties in Congress for increased
federal education funding. If the Impact Aid program cannot be forward funded in
total, we suggest that the Basic Support and the Disabilities portions of the
program could be forward funded or Congress could look at the possibility of a
phased-in approach to forward funding. School facilities. School facilities
construction and renovation, including making facilities ready for education
technology, is a high priority for our organization. We urge you to appropriate
at least $25 million for school facility repair as authorized under Section 8007
of the Impact Aid law. Ultimately however, we need more than a band aid approach
to school construction needs. NIISA has and will continue to work with Congress
on pending school construction proposals to make them responsive to the needs of
our schools -- Indian lands public schools. School construction bills have been
introduced in a steady stream during the last two Congresses and also the
current Congress. We have seen in these bills a growing recognition that there
needs to be accommodation for public school districts which have little, if any,
bonding capacity (including those schools in the Bureau of Indian Affairs
system). For instance, there are now bills which would allow a state to issue
school construction bonds (not just the LEA) and which would require the state
application to explain how they will assist schools that lack the fiscal
capacity to issue bonds on their own. This could be helpful to some school
districts with Indian lands. To the extent that a school district has limited
ability to generate revenues because of a federal presence (e.g., the existence
of Indian trust land or federal property in the school district), there is a
clear federal responsibility toward the education of the children attending
those schools. The condition of public and Bureau of Indian Affairs school
facilities has been documented in General Accounting Office (GAO) surveys.
Because the GAO surveys did not report data specific to Indian lands public
schools, our organization, in October, 1996, undertook a survey of school
districts which receive Indian lands Impact Aid funding. Some of the findings
from the survey, which we have previously reported to this Subcommittee are: -
65% of buildings are over 20 years old, including 38.2% over 30 years old; -
$6,872,000 is the average estimated costs necessary for repairs, renovations,
modernization and construction to put schools in overall good condition; - the
average cost per student to make school buildings meet health and safety
standards is $1,947; - to accommodate expected increased enrollment over the
next 5 years, the schools responding to the survey will need 13.1% more space.
Within 10 years, the space needs are expected to increase by 27.9%; - 71% of
school districts have had no school construction bond issued since 1985, and 23%
of school districts have never had a bond issued; - Of schools with 70% LOT MOD
and higher, the need for construction, renovation, and repair funding is two
thirds higher per pupil than in the other respondents to the NIISA survey.
(Note: LOT MOD is a Department of Education measure of need of school districts
affected by the presence of federal property); - 42% of respondents have
unhoused students; - 59% of school buildings have inadequate laboratory science
space; - 63% of schools are not well served for before/after school care. Thank
you for your interest in the need of our public schools which educate children
from Indian country. We ask you to always keep in mind the trust responsibility
for the education of Indian and Alaska Native children and the federal
responsibility regarding school districts which contain Indian and federal
property.
LOAD-DATE: March 30, 2000, Thursday
