The Obama administration rolled out plans last week to bolster educational opportunities for Native American youths.
In a new report on the state of Native American young people, the White House lays out a blueprint to help remedy the outcomes suffered disproportionately by American Indian and Alaska Native youths. The disparities extend across most academic achievement indicators, including low graduation rates and overrepresentation in school discipline systems, and contribute to inequalities in adulthood.
In an attempt to reverse what it says are the failures of federal policy, the administration plans to elevate the role of tribes in education; allow Native American leaders to design schools and programs that embrace tribal values and traditions; build pipelines to recruit high-quality teachers; and boost access to resources to combat the effects of systemic poverty, among other actions.