http://bit.ly/GlobalDayOfAction
The indigenous-led "Idle No More" movement in Canada has called a new global day of action for January 28 following a series of events on Friday around the world. Organizers say more than 130 actions were held in Canada and worldwide in solidarity with Idle No More’s call for political transformation, indigenous rights and environmental justice. A key figure in the movement, Chief Theresa Spence, was due to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other First Nations leaders, but pulled out of the meeting over the exclusion of Canada’s Governor General and in solidarity with Friday’s protests. Spence remains on a liquid diet-only hunger strike.
The indigenous-led "Idle No More" movement in Canada has called a new global day of action for January 28 following a series of events on Friday around the world. Organizers say more than 130 actions were held in Canada and worldwide in solidarity with Idle No More’s call for political transformation, indigenous rights and environmental justice. A key figure in the movement, Chief Theresa Spence, was due to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other First Nations leaders, but pulled out of the meeting over the exclusion of Canada’s Governor General and in solidarity with Friday’s protests. Spence remains on a liquid diet-only hunger strike.
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NCAI Education Newsletter January 14, 2013 Edition 41 |
Table of Contents
·
Sign Up for NDNSpark - A New NCAI Tool to Help Youth to Meet Their Goals
· NCAI and NIEA Advocate for Tribal and BIE Inclusion in the Investing in Innovation (i3) Competition
Sign Up for NDNSpark - A New NCAI Tool to Help Youth to Meet Their Goals
NCAI recently launched a new online community for Native youth called NDNSpark. The online community will support youth as they set individual goals, achieve community goals, and build leadership skills. Youth who sign up through the link below will automatically be added to the NCAI community where monthly goals will be set for our community, youth teams can establish their own pages, and individuals can ask others for ideas or tips about community projects. The opportunities are endless and we are looking forward to helping youth across the nation organize and achieve any goal they set.
The Fiscal Cliff Deal and Indian Education
Although Congress reached a fiscal cliff agreement with last-minute passage of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which delays the sequester and extends 2001, 2003-era tax cuts for most Americans, new deadlines pose a threat to honorable fulfillment of federal trust, treaty, and statutory obligations to tribes in the federal budget. The showdown over raising the debt ceiling will put non-defense discretionary programs, and thus Native education programs, at risk for more cuts. NCAI will continue to work with Congress and tribes to ensure the trust responsibility is upheld in the federal budget in the coming fiscal debates.
Fiscal Cliff Agreement Reached, but New Deadlines Await
The President signed into law on January 2, 2013, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (H.R. 8), an agreement that extends 2001, 2003-era tax cuts for most Americans and delays and replaces sequestration spending cuts until March 1. The agreement also extends unemployment benefits and extends dozens of expiring tax provisions, known as the "tax extenders," including a few that affect tribes. The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 89-8, and the House voted 257-167 to approve the bill on January 1.
New Upcoming Deadlines
Sequester, March 1, 2013: Sequestration will occur on March 1 unless the President and Congress delay it again or replace it with an alternative. In addressing the sequester (across the board cuts), Republicans are calling for every dollar to be replaced with a dollar of spending cuts. The President has called for the sequester replacement to include equal amounts of revenue increases to spending cuts.
Debt limit: Failure to raise the debt limit so that the federal government can pay its bills would eventually trigger a default, which would result in a downgrading of the US debt and possibly a worldwide recession. A recent study by the Bipartisan Policy Center predicted that the government will begin defaulting on some of its obligations sometime between February 15 and March 1.
The President has stated he will not negotiate fiscal policy as a condition for raising the debt ceiling. However, many Republicans stress that a raise in the debt limit should be accompanied by massive spending cuts. The so-called "Boehner Rule" demands that every dollar of an increase to the debt ceiling should be matched by a dollar of spending cuts and reforms."
The debt ceiling debate carries much larger consequences to the economy than the January 1 "fiscal cliff" deadlines posed. The showdown over raising the debt ceiling puts non-defense discretionary programs and low-income entitlement programs at risk for more cuts. With the President's and Republicans' battle lines drawn, a confrontation over the debt ceiling could result in an actual default or a government shutdown.
Continuing Resolution, March 27, 2013: The Continuing Resolution that is currently funding FY 2013 programs expires March 27, 2013.
President's Budget Possibly Delayed: The Administration's FY 2014 budget is expected to arrive late to Congress this year, possibly not until March, due to the late deal reached in the fiscal cliff negotiations. The Office of Management and Budget has not said when the budget will be released. By law, the President's budget is due the first Monday in February, which will be February 4. NCAI will release a FY 2014 Indian Country budget request document towards the end of January 2013 that outlines important programs for tribes in the federal budget that fund trust, treaty, and statutory obligations.
Sequestration
The American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA) delays the first installment of sequestration until March 1, 2013. ATRA replaces those two months of cuts with a combination of other spending cuts and revenue increases. NCAI sent a letter to Congress outlining the impact of 8.2 percent across the board reductions to trust, treaty, and statutory obligations to tribes and urging members to avert the sequester level cuts to domestic spending and tribal programs.
The Budget Control Act of 2011 provided for $2.1 trillion in deficit reduction through a two stage process: 10-year caps on discretionary spending for a savings of $917 billion, and it required Congress to find an additional $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction. However, Congress failed to enact the additional deficit reduction, which triggered sequester cuts to discretionary and mandatory spending over nine years to achieve those savings.
The first year of sequester cuts at $109 billion were set to begin in January 2013 with an estimated 8.2 percent reduction to discretionary programs at the program, project, and activity level. Under ATRA, those sequester cuts for this year are delayed until March 1, and the level of sequester that will be required for FY 2013 is reduced by $24 billion - to $85 billion (with half still to come from defense). The sequester offset was achieved by lowering the spending limits by $4 billion for FY 2013 and by $8 billion for FY 2014, and by raising revenue over 10 years by allowing taxpayers at all income levels to convert their 401(k) accounts to Roth accounts whenever they choose.
Impact on Indian Education
Because the ATRA merely delays sequestration and does not provide a fiscally strong federal budget, the devastating funding risks to Native education remain. For example, the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) budget would be cut 15 percent from its FY 2010 levels when adjusted for inflation. While most public schools would not feel the impact of an 8.2 percent sequestration cut until next school year, Indian Head Start programs and schools dependent on Impact Aid would feel the reductions immediately. Sequestration would also have severe consequences for tribal colleges and universities, whose budgets would be cut by 15 percent from FY 2010 levels when adjusted for inflation. NCAI will continue to work with Congress and tribes to ensure that the federal government’s trust responsibility for Indian education is upheld in the federal budget.
Congress Passes Two New Indian Education Provisions
While the 112th Congress failed to pass reauthorizations of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the Esther Martinez Native American Languages Preservation Act, as well as the Native CLASS Act, it did pass two new Indian education provisions within other bills at the end of 2012.
The Uninterrupted Scholars Act (S.3472) amends the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) to allow tribes who are legally responsible for the care and protection of foster youth to access to their educational records. NCAI is working to expand this provision in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Our request is to expressly provide tribes and tribal educational agencies with access to tribal member student records in the same way that local education agencies have access, so that tribes can make data-driven decisions about Native education.
Additionally, the National Defense Authorization Act (S.3254) makes the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) eligible for the Troops to Teachers program, which assists veterans in beginning new careers as teachers in the nation's neediest schools. American Indians participate in the armed forces at the highest rate of any racial or ethnic group, and this critical provision gives Native veterans the option to teach in BIE schools in their home communities.
Register Now to Attend NIEA's 2013 Legislative Summit
Each year, the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) Legislative Summit brings Native education advocates from around the nation to Washington, DC, to unite as one voice in the halls of Congress and the White House. This year's three-day gathering will feature training on how to advocate for reforming Native education on Capitol Hill and at state legislatures throughout the country. Attendees will also gain in-depth information on federal policy, as well as learn about NIEA's 2013 Congressional and White House policy agenda.
Location
NIEA’s legislative summit will be held at the Holiday Inn Capitol. Meetings will be from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm each day. Meals and evenings will be on your own. A block of sleeping rooms is available through Friday, February 4th. Click here to see room rates and instructions on how to make reservations. While in town, you should also plan on utilizing the Metro and/or local taxicabs for your Hill visits.
Registration
Registration for NIEA’s legislative summit is now open. Online registration will be open through Friday, February 15, 2013. On-site registration will be open on Monday, February 25th beginning at 7:30 am. Details on registration rates are provided on this website.
NCAI and NIEA Advocate for Tribal and BIE Inclusion in the Investing in Innovation (i3) Competition
NCAI and NIEA recently submitted comments on the 2013 Investing in Innovation (i3) proposed priorities, requirements, definitions, and selection criteria.
Although our organizations are excited about i3’s effort to expand the implementation of, and investment in, innovative practices that are demonstrated to have an impact on improving student achievement, we are deeply concerned that the draft i3 proposal will do little to improve Native education because it fails to include—much less even mention—tribes and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). Any federal effort to effect national educational reform must meaningfully include tribes and all of the school systems that serve Native students. To this end, we recommend the following changes to the i3 proposal:
· Make tribal education agencies (TEAs) eligible for i3
· Allow nonprofit organizations to partner with TEAs
· Explicitly make BIE schools eligible for i3 funds and partnerships
· Require local educational agencies (LEAs) on Indian lands to consult with tribes
· Grant preference to LEAs on Indian lands and nonprofits who submit a plan to consult and partner with the applicable tribe(s)
Student Opportunities
2013 AISES Google Scholarship (Deadline: March 31)
This Google scholarship awards funds to American Indian Society for Engineering and Science (AISES) members of American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and First Nations (Canada) descent. Eligible applicants include AISES members who are pursuing degrees in computer science, computer engineering, and other related programming fields.
The scholarship includes:
• $10,000 U.S. dollars awarded to those studying in the U.S.
• $5,000 Canadian dollars awarded to those studying in Canada
• All expenses paid invitation to 2013 Google Scholars’ Retreat, June 2013, Mountain View, CA. Retreat will feature opportunities to network with Googlers, other student scholarship recipients, and workshops to enhance career development and skill sets.
For more information and to apply, please visit: http://www.aises.org/what/programs/scholarships/info/googlescholars
1st Annual "Speakin' in Indian" Speech Scholarship for Native Students in Higher Education (Deadline: February 15)
Cut Bank Creek Press, a Native-owned book publisher, will award two $1,500 college scholarships to the winners of its first speech contest, Speakin’ in Indian.
Currently-enrolled college students will upload 5-minute video entries to YouTube in response to one of two prompts:
1. “Native people and tribes should expend substantial resources on the preservation/restoration of Native languages and make it a top priority because…”
2. “Native people and tribes should not expend their limited resources on the preservation/restoration of Native languages and make it a top priority because….”
One scholarship will be awarded for each argument – the best argument in favor of language preservation and the best argument against making language preservation a priority.
Submissions will be accepted from January 15 through February 15, 2013, and will be reviewed from February 15 to April 1, 2013. Finalists will be announced the first week in April. In late April, four finalists will be flown to Albuquerque to present their speeches, after which the two winners will be selected. Finally, scholarships will be awarded at the beginning of the 2013-14 academic year.
Other News and Commentary
· Northwest Indian College Student Determined to Teach Native Youth: Alisha Sellars, Shuswap/Secwepemc from British Columbia, is studying to become an elementary or early-education teacher at Northwest Indian College and participates in the Sacred Little Ones Project, a new grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
· Tribal College Coming to Rapid City: The United Tribes Technical College of Bismarck, North Dakota is opening a new student center in downtown Rapid City. The learning center will provide students with computer access, technical support, and financial aid assistance.
· Teacher on Flathead Indian Reservation Wins Culturally Responsive Teaching Award: Anna Baldwin, an English teacher at Arlee High School on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana, recently won an award from the Southern Poverty Law Center's Teaching Tolerance project for her excellence in culturally responsive teaching to Native students.
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Support the Native Languages Preservation Act The National Indian Education Association (NIEA) is urging support for reauthorization of the Esther Martinez Native American Languages Preservation Act. The act funds programs that support and strengthen Native American language-immersion programs – including language nests, survival schools and restoration programs. The act was named after Esther Martinez, a 94-year-old teacher and storyteller who was devoted to preserving the Tewa language. The act was signed into law by President George W. Bush in December 2006, and it expired in fiscal year 2012.On September 15, 2012, members of the New Mexico congressional delegation introduced legislation, S3546, to extend the program for another five years. Your support is needed to get the bill passed. “Preserving our Native languages is critical to the survival of our cultures. At the same time, a growing body of research concludes that bilingualism improves a child's cognitive development,” said NIEA President Dr. Heather Shotton. Take Action Now!Call Senate Indian Affairs Committee Chairman Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, at (202) 224-2251 today, and urge him to use the "clearance process” for a quick passage of the legislation. In your message, tell Sen. Akaka that:
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In Solidarity! Idle No More! Sacramento Represent!
(Flash Mob Round Dance)
Friday, December 28, 2012
12:00pm
West Steps, State Capitol at 12:00 Noon (sharp)
1315 10th Street, Sacramento, California 95814-5506
We realize there are two events planned in the area, Friday at 12:00 noon on the West steps of the State Capitol and Saturday, in front of Nordstrom's at 2pm!
Lots to do in Sac-town! Stay the night and be sure to make both events! C'mon Sacramento! Let's do this! Spread the word!
Here's the spot to get more on the event:
https://www.facebook.com/events/512958468736585/
And you can scroll through the posts here to get an idea on the growth of this movement:
http://www.idlenomore.com
(Flash Mob Round Dance)
Friday, December 28, 2012
12:00pm
West Steps, State Capitol at 12:00 Noon (sharp)
1315 10th Street, Sacramento, California 95814-5506
We realize there are two events planned in the area, Friday at 12:00 noon on the West steps of the State Capitol and Saturday, in front of Nordstrom's at 2pm!
Lots to do in Sac-town! Stay the night and be sure to make both events! C'mon Sacramento! Let's do this! Spread the word!
Here's the spot to get more on the event:
https://www.facebook.com/events/512958468736585/
And you can scroll through the posts here to get an idea on the growth of this movement:
http://www.idlenomore.com
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/12/26/idle_no_more_indigenous_led_protests
A new campaign for indigenous rights and environmental justice is spreading across Canada. The "Idle No More" movement began as a series of protests against a controversial government budget bill but has since expanded into a nationwide movement for political transformation. Aboriginal and environmental activists are calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to honor treaties with aborigines, open dialog with environmentalists, and reject tar sands pipelines that would infiltrate First Nation territories. We go to Toronto to speak with Pamela Palmater, chair in indigenous governance at Ryerson University and spokeswoman for the Idle No More movement. "We, First Nations people, have been subsidizing the wealth and prosperity and programs and services of Canadians from our lands and resources," Palmater says. "And that’s the reality here that most people don’t understand." [includes rush transcript]