Trump administration opens consultation on Indian education update

Tuesday, May 21, 2019  

A long-overdue update to the popular Johnson O'Malley Indian education program is finally on the horizon.

In a notice being published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced a June 21 tribal consultation and public comment session on an update to the Johnson O'Malley student count. The count hasn't been updated since 1995 despite growth in the Indian student population.

As a result, funding for a wide range of initiatives, from school supplies and learning competitions to field trips and powwows, is stuck at 1995 levels. Tribal leaders and educators say American Indian and Alaska Native students are being hindered by the lack of progress.

"When federal funding was frozen at the 1995 level and capped at 278,000 students nationally, it negatively impacted our families, schools and communities," Chief Bill John Baker of the Cherokee Nation said in an opinion published on Indianz.Com.

The situation is changing now that the Johnson-O’Malley Supplemental Indian Education Program Modernization Act (S.943) has become law. The Bureau of Indian Education will be taking comments on how it will update the student count, which has been estimated at "well over" 1 million by the National Johnson O’Malley Association.

"The JOM program awards contracts based on the number of Native students served, making it imperative that updated, accurate numbers be reflected in those contracts," Baker noted.

The forthcoming Federal Register notice, which was signed by Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney, states:

"In accordance with the JOM Modernization Act, the BIE will use the most applicable and accurate data (from the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the initial determination is to be made) from one of the following sources:

1. Bureau of the Census;
2. National Center for Education Statistics; or
3. Office of Indian Education of the Department of Education.

The BIE would like feedback on which of these three sources can provide the most accurate data for use in the preliminary report."

The June 21 session will be conducted over the phone and via GoToMeeting. It takes place from 1pm to 3pm Mountain Time.

Written comments are also being accepted and can be sent to:

Bureau of Indian Education
ATTN: JOM Comments
C/O Angela Barnett
Program Manager
1011 Indian School Road NW, Suite 332
Albuquerque, NM 87104
Email comments to: JOMcomments@bie.edu.

According to the notice, a "preliminary report" will be prepared following the conclusion of the consultation and public comment period. Additional feedback will be solicited before a "final report" is issued.

Johnson-O’Malley Program (To Be Published May 22, 2019)

Bill John Baker: Indian students will finally be counted thanks to new law (January 18, 2019)
Congress sends more Indian Country bills to President Trump (December 11, 2018)
Bill John Baker: Johnson-O'Malley education program needs full funding (May 2, 2018)
Bureau of Indian Affairs strips blood quantum from proposed Johnson O'Malley rule (March 23, 2018)
Senate committee advances bill to update Johnson O'Malley education program (October 4, 2017)
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs set to advance Johnson O'Malley reform bill (October 2, 2017)
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs takes testimony on three bills at hearing (July 12, 2017)
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs adds another hearing to July schedule (June 29, 2017)
Tribes and educators push for newer data for key funding program (May 10, 2016)
Witness list for Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hearing on two bills (May 9, 2016)
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs schedules meeting and hearing (May 5, 2016)
BIE schedules consultations for Johnson-O'Malley program (November 16, 2015)
Carla Mann: Act now for accurate Indian student count for JOM (August 4, 2014)
Carla Mann: Johnson O'Malley needs an accurate student count (July 16, 2014)