Bureau of Indian Affairs head Dave Anderson is visiting four Bureau of Indian Affairs schools in North and South Dakota this week.

On Monday, Anderson attended an honor roll banquet at Turtle Mountain High School in North Dakota. Along with Ed Parisian, the BIA's director of Indian education, he met with students, parents, faculty and staff.

"Every child should have the opportunity to reach their potential," Anderson said yesterday. "Our schools must help students climb the academic ladder, regardless of which rung they're on, and prepare them to become contributing member of their families and tribes."

Anderson will head to South Dakota to tour three more schools. Today, he will visit the Pine Ridge School. On Wednesday, he will go to Cheyenne-Eagle Butte School, a boarding school. He wraps up the tour on Thursday with a visit to the Lower Brule Day School.

Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) encouraged Anderson to visit South Dakota. In a letter, the Senate minority leader asked Anderson to seek more funding for BIA schools.

"On South Dakota's nine reservations, you will find that educators are accomplishing amazing things with insufficient resources," Daschle wrote. "Imagine what they could achieve, and what heights their student could attain, if the federal government made a true commitment to working with tribal leaders to ensure that Indian students have access to the tools available to their counterparts in more affluent communities around the country."

The upcoming budget for the BIA cuts education programs by $79 million. Bush administration officials are proposing to reduce the agency's funding by 3.6 percent.

Get the Letter:
Tom Daschle to Dave Anderson (April 5, 2004)

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