Christensen: Improvement of Indian education needed

Speaking at the sixth annual Native American Symposium at Chadron State College on Wednesday, Christensen said the latest data shows 150 more Indian children are enrolled in Nebraska schools over the previous year, the dropout rate has declined by about 8 percent and the number of graduates are up 13 percent. He added that test scores in reading and math are “inching upward” among Indian students.

However, Christensen said more than 50 percent of the state’s Indian youths still drop out of school between junior high and the time when they should have graduated from high school. In addition, he said some of the Indian students are absent from classes 50 percent of the time and change schools far too often to learn effectively.

Speaking to about 65 people, including several Indian educators and faculty members from school systems that have Indian students, the education commissioner added that some schools are reluctant “to embrace” Indian students. He said he has difficulty understanding this because, in his words, “when you improve the education for the children who are at the bottom of the pool, you improve the education for all the children and the entire school gets better.”

Christensen had a couple of suggestions on how the situation might be improved. He recommended that each school with students from a cultural minority form an equity council in the district to make recommendations and seek improvements. He also suggested that each school make someone responsible for Indian education. He said that individual would inform the community of the needs of the students, exchange information with the families of the students and be in charge of activities on behalf of Indian students.

“We need to have more Native American teachers and we need to obtain the support of the Indian families before we are going to make a lot of progress,” Christensen said. “We need to join hands and wrap our arms around these children and help them stay in school and graduate. There must be equal opportunity for all children.”

The speaker said graduation from high school will not guarantee bright futures for Indian students, but stated that without a diploma it is almost impossible for them to have much hope for a happy, successful life.

“This job is one of the hardest we have ever had, but it must be done and it must be done now,” Christensen said. “Every year we wait to get the job done, means more children have been lost who will never be learners or earners in our society.”

Christensen said the Bush Administration’s “No Child Left Behind” program “isn’t going to get us where we’d like to be.” He charged that NCLB forces schools “to look good, rather than to be good.”

“I’m not trying to denigrate what I hope are serious and noble intentions coming out of the federal (education) office in Washington, but they simply focus on the wrong thing,” he said. “And the Bureau of Indian Affairs is not very helpful because it’s so buried in bureaucracy. In some places it’s a disaster.”

Christensen remained at Chadron State on Thursday for the second annual Excellence in Education Conference. About 165 registered for the event.