More funding won't help raise Indian student achievement levels, according to witnesses at a trial in South Dakota.

Keith Moore, the Indian education coordinator for the state, said money won't solve social issues like poverty and substance abuse. He said some reservation schools spend twice as much as other schools.

"It’s not all about money,” Moore testified, the Associated Press reported. “For Native American students, there are larger issues than money.”

Republican Sen. Ed Olson, a former teacher and principal, testified that the state provides adequate funds to schools. “That is South Dakota’s Achilles’ heel, the education of our Native Americans," he said, the AP reported.

Parents and students are challenging the constitutionality of the state's K-12 funding.

Get the Story:
Legislator: S.D. schools receive plenty of money (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 9/17)
Sen. Olson testifies in school lawsuit (AP 9/17)
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