Copyright 2000 Federal News Service, Inc.
Federal News Service
February 23, 2000, Wednesday
SECTION: PREPARED TESTIMONY
LENGTH: 3518 words
HEADLINE:
PREPARED TESTIMONY OF STATEMENT BY MICHAEL COHEN ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR
ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
BEFORE THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
SUBJECT - FY 2001 BUDGET REQUEST FOR THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS
BODY:
Mr. Chairman and Members of the
Committee:
My colleagues and I are pleased to appear before you to
discuss the fiscal year 2001 budget request for major Department of Education
programs that serve and benefit American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native
Hawaiians.
The Clinton Administration is strongly committed to improving
the educational opportunities of American Indians and Alaska Natives. It is this
commitment that led the President to issue two Executive Orders. Executive Order
13021 on Tribal Colleges and Universities reaffirmed the special relationship of
the Federal Government to American Indians and Alaska Natives and is designed to
help strengthen tribal colleges and universities. This is an important step in
providing high-quality post secondary educational opportunities for Indian
students. Executive Order 13096 on American Indian and Alaska Native Education
also reaffirms the special, historic responsibility the Federal Government has
for the education of Native learners, recognizes the importance of providing
high-quality educational opportunities to American Indian and Alaska Native
students, and reinforces the Federal Government's commitment to improving the
academic performance and reducing the drop-out rates of American Indian and
Alaska Native students. American Indians have made educational progress in
recent decades, but continue to be disproportionately affected by poverty, low
educational attainment, and fewer educational opportunities than other students.
For example, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, 48
percent of American Indian 4th grade students and 63 percent of 8th grade
students scored "at or above basic" on the 1994 reading assessment, compared to
60 percent for all 4th grade students and 70 percent for all 8th grade students.
In addition, although American Indians have made progress on the Scholastic
Aptitude Test, moving from a composite score of 808 in 1976 to 850 in 1995, they
are 60 points behind all students who had a composite score of 910 in 1995.The
2001 budget request for Department of Education programs serving Indians is part
of a major Administration initiative to improve economic opportunity, health
care, education, and law enforcement for Native American communities. We are
very pleased that the Department of Education programs are included in this
initiative, which includes a total increase of $1.2 billion for
new and existing programs. The budget request also supports continuing
implementation of the Executive Orders on American Indian and Alaska Native
education and Tribal Colleges and Universities.
Indian Education
Programs
Our request for Indian Education programs is
$115.5 million, an increase of $38.5 million
over the 2000 level. With this increase, the Administration would significantly
increase formula grants to enable school districts to provide viable Indian
Education programs; expand Special Programs for Indian children; and provide the
resources to address the research objectives of the Executive Order on American
Indian and Alaska Native Education.
Indian Education - Grants to Local
Educational Agencies
We are requesting $92.8 million
for the formula grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) program, an increase
of $30.8 million (50 percent) over the 2000 level. This program
is the Department's principal vehicle for addressing the unique educational and
culturally related needs of Indian children. Grants supplement the regular
school program, helping Indian children sharpen their academic skills, improve
their self-confidence, and participate in enrichment programs and activities
that would otherwise be unavailable. The requested increase would provide the
resources necessary to help ensure that Indian students achieve to the same
standards as all children. The requested level would provide an estimated
per-pupil payment under the formula grant program of $200, an
increase of $66 per student from the 2000 level.
The
request will also help LEAs recover from losses the program has suffered over
the last two decades. Since 1980, when the program received its highest level in
constant dollars, it has experienced several cuts in funding, and increases have
failed to match the rate of inflation in most years. LEAs have had to modify
their programs to adjust to the loss of purchasing power, and the program has
not been able to have as significant an impact on Indian education as intended
under the statute.
Special Programs for Indian Children
Our
request for Special Program for Indian Children is for $20
million, an increase of $6.8 million (51 percent) over the 2000
level. These funds will be used for four activities. Approximately
$2.4 million will be used for 12 new Demonstration grants that
promote school readiness for Indian preschool children, enhance native language
development and education programs, and increase the potential for learning
among American Indian and Alaska Native students. Approximately
$2.6 million will be used for 14 new Professional Development
grants to institutions of higher education, including tribally controlled
colleges, to provide support and training for Indian students who are pursuing
degrees in education or school administration and other fields.
In
addition, the 2001 request will provide $10 million to the
American Indian Teacher Corps program, which the Department began last year to
train Indian college students to become teachers, place them in schools with
concentrations of Indian students, and provide them with professional
development and in-service support where they teach. In addition to continuing
the training of an initial cohort of 500 new Indian teachers, the program will
provide professional development to teachers already in the field so that they
can work more effectively with their Indian students.
Finally, we are
requesting $5 million to initiate a new American Indian
Administrator Corps, modeled after the American Indian Teacher Corps. This
initiative would recruit, train, and provide inservice professional development
to American Indians to become effective school administrators in schools with
high concentrations of Indian students. The request would support and assist
approximately 200 American Indian teachers and professionals.
National
Activities
We are requesting $2.8 million for the
research, evaluation, and data collection activities to provide information on
the status of education for the Indian population. As part of the Department's
activities to implement the Executive Order on American Indian and Alaska Native
Education, we are establishing a comprehensive research agenda that will guide
our activities in carrying out high-quality research and data collections. For
example, we are supplementing the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey initiated
in 2000 by the National Center for Education Statistics so that it will collect
data on a representative sample of Indian children from birth through age 6.
In addition to the Indian Education programs, the Department also
supports the education of Indians through other programs.
School
Renovation
The Administration is requesting $1.3
billion for a new School Renovation initiative. This proposal includes
$50 million for grants to approximately 118 LEAs that have 50
percent or more of their children in average daily attendance residing on Indian
lands. These funds would be in addition to the $167 million
increase the Administration is requesting for Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
school construction and repair, and funds provided for construction and
renovation of public schools (many of which serve Indian children) through our
proposed grant, loan, and bond programs.
Title I: Education for the
Disadvantaged
Title I provides supplemental education funding to LEAs
and schools, especially in high-poverty areas, to help some 13 million
disadvantaged students, including Indian children and youth, learn to the same
high standards as other students. With Title I, these students have the benefit
of, for example, extra instruction at all grade levels, extended day
kindergarten programs, learning laboratories in math, science, and computers,
and intensive summer programs. States are required to create a framework to
integrate Title I with State and local reforms stressing high performance for
all children.
The Department's request for Title I Grants to LEAs is
$8.358 billion, an increase of 5.2 percent over the 2000
appropriation level. Under the statute, the BIA receives 1 percent of Title I
Grants to LEAs. Our 2001 request would provide approximately
$54 million to BIA schools. During the 1996-1997 school year
(the most recent year for which actual data are available), 47,261 Indian
students in BIA and an estimated 142,000 Indian students in public schools
across the country participated in Title I programs.
Also, the Title I
Even Start program provides over $2 million for Even Start
programs benefiting Indian families. An estimated 1,300 Indian parents and their
children, birth through age 7, are participating in 13 Even Start projects
operated by Indian tribes and tribal organizations. These projects integrate
early childhood education, adult literacy, and parenting services to improve
family literacy. The Department is requesting $150 million,
level funding, for Even Start in 2001.
Finally, the Demonstrations of
Comprehensive School Reform program provides schools with funding to develop or
adopt, and implement, comprehensive school reforms, based on reliable research
and effective practices that will enable children in participating schools to
meet challenging State standards. BIA and the Outlying Areas share a set- aside
of 1 percent.
The Department's fiscal year 2001 request of
$190 million would provide the BIA with an allocation of
approximately $1.5 million.
Teaching to High Standards
The President's budget request emphasizes the importance of good
teaching for all students. A proposed new Teaching to High Standards State
grants program would help educators improve learning in American classrooms by
supporting State and local efforts to align curricula and assessments with
challenging State and local content standards and to provide teachers with
sustained and intensive, high-quality professional development in the core
academic subjects. The BIA and the Outlying areas share a set-aside of 1
percent.
The Department's fiscal year 2001 request of
$690 million would provide the BIA with an allocation of
approximately $4.9 million for professional development
activities.
Class Size Reduction
The Class Size Reduction
program helps school districts improve education in the early elementary grades
by providing funds to hire highly qualified teachers and reduce class sizes.
Under the program, school districts give particular consideration to reducing
class sizes in the early elementary grades, the grades in which research has
shown class-size reduction to be effective in improving student achievement. The
Department is requesting $1.75 billion, a 35 percent increase
for Class Size Reduction in 2001; the BIA would receive approximately
$5.0 million of that amount.
Safe and Drug-Free Schools
and Communities
The Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities is
designed to help create and maintain drug-free, safe, and orderly environments
for learning in and around schools by supporting effective, research-based
approaches to drug and violence prevention. One percent of the appropriation for
State grants is reserved for drug and violence prevention programs serving
Indian children in BIA-operated or supported schools, and 0.2 percent is
reserved for programs serving Native Hawaiians.
The 2001 budget request
of $439.25 million for Safe and Drug-Free Schools includes
$4.4 million for the BIA and $880,000 for
Native Hawaiian programs.
Impact Aid
Basic Support Payments
Impact Aid provides substantial assistance for general operating
expenses to many LEAs that educate Indian children. Approximately 615 school
districts receive Impact Aid payments on behalf of 126,323 children living on
Indian lands. The budget request of $720 million would provide
approximately $341 million in Impact Aid Basic Support Payments
to support the education of children living on Indian lands.
Payments
for Children with Disabilities
Payments for Children with Disabilities
enable federally affected LEAs to provide the special education services
required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA). The budget request of $40 million would provide
approximately $21 million for services to approximately 17,242
children living on Indian lands.
Construction
The
Administration's reauthorization proposal would target funds to LEAs in which
the number of students living on Indian lands is at least 50 percent of average
daily attendance. This proposal is part of the Administration's commitment to
making Construction payments on behalf of students residing on Indian lands who
attend schools in predominantly Indian LEAs. Under the budget request,
$5 million would be available for construction and renovation
of school facilities, for debt service related to the construction Of school
facilities, or for purchase of minimal initial equipment in connection with a
new building or the renovation of an existing building.
Bilingual
Education
Bilingual Education programs support programs for limited
English proficient students, through Grants to LEAs, Program Development, and
Special Programs. Under the 2001 budget request, the Department estimates that
approximately $38.5 million in bilingual education funds would
serve an estimated 124,300 Indian students.
Education for Native
Hawaiians
We are requesting $23 million for Education
for Native Hawaiians, the same as the 2000 appropriation level. Funds support a
wide array of education services to improve the educational status of Native
Hawaiians, including curriculum development, teacher training and recruitment,
higher education, special education, community-based learning centers,
family-based education centers, and gifted and talented programs. Although H.R.
2, which passed the House last year, would not reauthorize the Native Hawaiian
programs, the Department remains committed to helping ensure that they are
included in the final Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorization
bill.
Alaska Native Education Equity
We are requesting
$13 million for Alaska Native Education Equity, the same as the
2000 appropriation level. Funds support a wide array of education services to
improve the educational status of Alaska Natives, including student enrichment,
preschool programs, and teacher training, recruitment, and curriculum
development.
Education for Homeless Children and Youth
Under the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, the Secretary is
authorized to transfer 1 percent of the appropriation for Education for Homeless
Children and Youth to the BIA for services to Indian students in the Bureau's
schools. Our 2001 budget request of $31.7 million, a 10 percent
increase, includes $100,000 for BIA programs to provide
services to homeless children and youth that enable them to attend and excel in
school.
Technology Literacy Challenge Fund
The Technology
Literacy Challenge Fund helps States put into practice strategies to enable all
students to integrate technology fully into schools so that students become
technologically literate and possess the academic, communication,and
critical-thinking skills essential for success in the Information Age. From the
appropriation, up to 1 percent is reserved for BIA to enable all schools to
integrate technology fully into school curricula.
Under the budget
request of $450 million, a 6 percent increase, the Department
would provide approximately $2.3 million to BIA.
Vocational Education
Vocational Education State Grants support a
variety of education programs designed to develop the academic, vocational, and
technical skills of students in high schools and community colleges. From the
total appropriation, 1.25 percent is set-aside for competitive grants to
federally recognized Indian tribes and organizations and 0.25 percent for
competitive grants to organizations recognized by the Governor as primarily
serving and representing Native Hawaiians.
Under the budget request of
$855.7 million, the Department would award approximately
$10.7 million to 35 Indian tribes or tribal organizations,
serving approximately 2,500 students. The Department would award approximately
$2.1 million to Native Hawaiian organizations.
Tribally
Controlled Postsecondary Vocational and Technical Institutions This program
provides grants for the operation and improvement of tribally controlled
postsecondary vocational and technical institutions to ensure continued and
expanded educational opportunities for Indian students and to improve and expand
the physical resources of those institutions.
Under the budget request,
the Department would provide $4.6 million, level funding, to
continue support for two institutions.
Higher Education Aid for
Institutional Development
The Aid for Institutional Development programs
are designed to strengthen institutions of higher education that serve high
percentages of minority students and students from low-income backgrounds. The
programs provide financial assistance to help institutions solve problems that
threaten their ability to survive, to improve their management and fiscal
operations, to build endowments, and to make effective use of technology.
The Strengthening Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCU)
program authorizes 1-year planning and 5-year development grants that enable
TCCUs to improve and expand their capacity to serve American Indian students.
Under the budget request, the Department would award $9
million, an increase of $3 million (50 percent) over the 2000
level, for 8 new and 16 continuation awards.The Strengthening Alaska Native and
Native Hawaiian-serving Institutions program authorizes 1- year planning and
5-year development grants that enable institutions to improve and expand their
capacity to serve Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian students. Under the budget
request, the Department would award $5 million, level funding
with the 2000 level, for 13 continuation awards.
Special Education
Grants to States
The Grants to States program provides formula
grants to meet the excess costs of providing special education and related
services to children with disabilities. From the total appropriation, 1.226
percent is allocated to BIA to serve children with disabilities on reservations.
Of the funds reserved, 80 percent is used for the education of children 5-21
years old, and 20 percent for distribution to tribes and tribal organizations
for the education of children 3-5 years old.
Under the budget request of
$5.28 billion, a 5.8 percent increase, the Department would
provide approximately $49.9 million to BIA to serve
approximately 8,600 Indian students.
Grants for Infants and Families The
Grants for Infants and Families program provides formula grants to assist States
in implementing statewide systems of coordinated, comprehensive,
multidisciplinary, interagency programs to make available early intervention
services to all children with disabilities, aged birth through 2, and their
families. 1.25 percent is allocated to the BIA.
Under the budget
request, the Department would provide approximately $4.7
million to the BIA.
Vocational Rehabilitation
The American
Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services Program provides grants to governing
bodies of Indian tribes located on Federal and State reservations (and consortia
of such governing bodies) to pay 90 percent of the costs of vocational
rehabilitation services for American Indians who are individuals with
disabilities residing on or near such reservations. Vocational rehabilitation
services are provided consistent with the individual strengths, resources,
priorities, concerns, abilities, capabilities, interest, and informed choice, so
that they may prepare for and engage in gainful employment.
The program
is supported by funds set-aside under the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) State
Grants Program. Section 110 (c) of the Rehabilitation Act requires that notless
than 1.0 percent or more than 1.5 percent of the VR State Grant funds be set
aside for Grants for Indians.
Under the budget request, approximately
$24 million (1.0 percent) would be setaside to support
approximately 70 competitive service grants to American Indian tribes. About
3,190 American Indians with disabilities were served by the 47 projects that
were in full operation during FY 1999.
Thank you for the opportunity to
appear before the Committee, my colleagues and I will be happy to respond to any
questions you may have.
END
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February 25, 2000 
