They are worse than the ones in Afghanistan, can you believe it?
"Native American schools face decayed buildings, poverty" by Kimberly Hefling | Associated Press October 19, 2014
WINSLOW, Ariz. — On a desert outpost miles from the closest paved road, Navajo students at the Little Singer Community School gleefully taste traditional fry bread during the school’s heritage week.
‘‘It reminds us of the Native American people a long time ago,’’ said a smiling 9-year-old, Arissa Chee.
The cheer comes in the midst of dire surroundings: Little Singer, like so many of the 183 Indian schools overseen by the federal government, is verging on decrepit.
Well, when all the tax loot is poured on Israel, Wall Street, the war machine, well-connected corporations and concerns, and lavish political lifestyles (with the rest stolen and vanished without a race), this is what you get.
The school, which serves 81 students, consists of a cluster of rundown classroom buildings containing asbestos, radon, mice, mold, and flimsy outside door locks.
The newest building, a large, white monolithic dome that is nearly 20 years old, houses the gym.
On a recent day, students carried chairs above their heads while they changed classes, so they would have a place to sit.
These are schools, said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, whose department is responsible for them, ‘‘that you or I would not feel good sending our kids to, and I don’t feel good sending Indian kids there, either.’’
Federally owned schools for Native Americans on reservations are marked by remoteness, extreme poverty, and few construction dollars.
The schools serve about 48,000 children, or about 7 percent of Indian students, and are among the country’s lowest-performing.
At Little Singer, less than one-quarter of students were deemed proficient in reading and math on a 2012-2013 assessment.
The Obama administration is pushing ahead with a plan to improve the schools that gives tribes more control.
Where you been?
But the endeavor is complicated by disrepair of so many buildings, not to mention a federal legacy dating to the 19th century that for many years forced Native American children to attend boarding schools.
The Little Singer school was the vision in the 1970s of a medicine man of the same name who wanted local children educated in the community.
Students often come from families struggling with domestic violence, alcoholism, and a lack of running water at home, so nurturing is emphasized.
In America?
The school provides showers, along with shampoo and washing machines.
Conflicts and discipline problems are resolved with traditional ‘‘peacemaking’’ discussions, and occasionally the use of a sweat lodge.
Can we get the U.S. government out there for a meeting or two?
Principal Etta Shirley’s day starts at 6 a.m., when on her way to work, she picks up kids off the bus routes. Because there’s no teacher housing, a caravan of teachers commutes together about 90 minutes each morning on barely passable dirt roads.
All this, to teach in barely passable quarters.
‘‘We have little to work with, but we make do with what we have,’’ said Verna Yazzie, a school board member.
Quintessential AmeriKan spirit!
The school is on the government’s priority list for replacement. It has been there since at least 2004.
The 183 schools are spread across 23 states and fall under the jurisdiction of the Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Education.
They are in some of the most out-of-the-way places in America; one is at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, reachable by donkey or helicopter. Most are small, with fewer than 150 students.
Native Americans perform better in schools that are not overseen by the federal bureau than in schools that are, national and state assessments show. Overall, they trail their peers in an important national assessment and struggle with a graduation rate of 68 percent.
Just about says it all, doesn't it.
President Obama visited Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota in June, where he announced the school improvement plan.
Already, tribes manage about 120 schools, and the plan will turn the rest over as Washington shifts to more of a support role.
The plan also calls for more board-certified teachers, better Internet access, and less red tape, making it easier to buy books and hire teachers. The Interior Department wants to help schools accelerate the use of Native American languages and culture.
But the rundown state of many schools cannot be ignored. More than 60 are listed in poor condition.
Less than one-third have the Internet and the computer capability to administer new student assessments that are rolling out in much of the country.
An estimated $1.3 billion is needed to replace or refurbish these schools, or at least hundreds of millions to fix parts of them.
But since the 2009 release of about $280 million in stimulus money, little has gone to major school construction or renovation.
Where has all the money gone?
It's one large looting operation is government, and that's it!!!!!!!!
--more--"
Guess what grade I'm giving the government on Indian schools.
Related:
Navajo Nation Gets Paid
Navajo Politics
UPDATE: Navajo high court orders election postponed
