Native America Calling: Efforts to improve Native student achievement under fire

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Native America Calling

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Native America Calling: Efforts to improve Native student achievement under fire

Friday, May 1, 2026

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Efforts to improve Native student achievement under fire

Following the Trump administration’s lead, state elected leaders and private advocacy groups are taking on programs, scholarships, and admissions practices aimed at improving Native student achievement.

An advocacy organization filed a lawsuit challenging a scholarship program that has helped support hundreds of Native Hawaiian medical students for more than three decades. The suit claims the program is unconstitutional. Another group is going after admissions policies at the K-12 Kamehameha Schools that aim to boost Native Hawaiian enrollment. Both challenges have far-reaching implications.

Also, hear about a report that finds Minnesota schools are falling far short of the goals enshrined in state law to teach Native languages and culture.

The Kaʻiwakīloumoku Hawaiian Cultural Center is located on the grounds of the Kamehameha Schools Kapālama Campus in Oahu, Hawaii. Photo: Myron Pinky Thompson Hale

Guests on Native America Calling

Healani Sonoda-Pale (Kanaka Maoli), educator and community organizer with Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi

Gimiwan Dustin Burnette (Ojibwe), executive director of the Midwest Indigenous Immersion Network

Jon Osorio (Kanaka Maoli), dean of the Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge

Regis Pecos (Cochiti Pueblo), co-director of the Leadership Institute at the Santa Fe Indian School in New Mexico, chair of the Tribal Education Alliance, and former governor of Cochiti Pueblo in New Mexico