The Navajo Nation has failed in providing education. It has failed our children. The Old Guard has cowered in the presence of the U.S. government. The provision of education is explicit in the Treaty of 1868. The Old Guard and their supporters simply “manage” schools, but rarely “lead” education policy. Our schools are controlled by the states. These state-sponsored schools teach our children how to leave the Navajo Nation, not how to return. Now is the time for us to reclaim the ways we teach our children and reform our education system. Our college students are not adequately supported and many cannot find work on the Navajo Nation when they graduate. Their choice is made for them: they simply leave the Navajo Nation and only to return for visits. It is time we rescue our children, reclaim the instruction and learning of our children, and harness the power of our graduates. Benally 2014 will ensure the Navajo Nation is in complete control over the destiny of our education systems. We will implement policies that ensure the creative capacity of Navajo students is nurtured and unleashed. We will do this through the following approach: 1. We will assume full control of all schools within the Navajo Nation. These include public, charter, BIA and others. Private schools will retain their autonomy. 2. We will implement our own standards, our own certification process, and radically rearrange the focus of education in producing critical thinking and Navajo-speaking citizens. Our students will be equipped with language, math, science, and critical writing skills to compete globally while building up the Navajo Nation domestically. 3. We will ensure that all federal impact aid comes directly to the Navajo Nation and ensure additional funding is provided by treaty and trust obligation, through the courts if necessary, to compel Congress to fulfill their binding obligations. 4. We will ensure, through careful strategic planning that gaming revenue, the Undesignated Unreserved Fund, and Permanent Trust Fund are used to support scholarships for those wishing to attend college. 5. We will ensure that college debt will be forgiven by the federal government for all Diné who come back and work on the Navajo Nation for three or more years. 6. We will support Colleges and Universities on the Navajo Nation in their efforts to ensure the usage of the Diné language, the development of skills, and critical thinking capacities that are appropriate for the developing economy of the Navajo Nation. Further, we will ensure research grants are available to these colleges and universities to enhance the study and research of issues affecting the Navajo Nation. 7. We will ensure that teachers are paid the as much as or more than the U.S. average. These are individuals who are creating the leaders for tomorrow.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Aug 2013 17:57:04 +0000
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