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Three bills that would bolster the state鈥檚 23 Native American tribes鈥� ability to educate their own children cleared their first legislative committee this week.

The House Education Committee鈥檚 passage of House Bills ,  and , sponsored by Democratic Rep. Derrick Lente of Sandia Pueblo, never was much in doubt.

With a little over two weeks left in the 30-day session, the question is whether beefed-up money for tribal education contained in the bills will make it into the $8.5 billion state budget. 

And whether the Legislature will change how New Mexico distributes money to tribes from one-off grants that require applying for the money each year to an automatic year-over-year appropriation 鈥� called recurring in statehouse lingo.

Lente explained to his legislative colleagues during Monday鈥檚 committee meeting that the legislation before them was foundational to the , which details  education reform priorities sought by the state鈥檚 23 tribal nations. 

In recent years tribes have demanded more control over educating their own children. They鈥檙e supported by the 2018 landmark Yazzie/Martinez v. State of New Mexico court ruling that found New Mexico negligent in providing a sufficient education to at-risk students, which includes Indigenous students.

Indigenous students, who make up about 34,000, or 11% of New Mexico鈥檚 K-12 student population, lag behind their New Mexico peers in reading, math, high school graduation and college enrollment. The Yazzie/Martinez decision suggested those outcomes mostly stem from decades of underspending and neglect by New Mexico, shattering the perception that blame rests on children and their families instead of on a systemic failure.

The court ruling wasn鈥檛 the first to name systemic or institutional causes for low educational outcomes for Indigenous students. From the 1960s on, report after report has documented the dismal education afforded to the state鈥檚 Native American communities. 

The of 1969, a federal review of indigenous education, acknowledged the classroom was a tool of assimilation for indigenous children for much of this country鈥檚 history.

Then there was 1991鈥檚 Indian Nations at Risk report by the U.S. Department of Education. And a 2006 New Mexico  that identified challenges and recommended solutions, followed by a 2010 report commissioned by the state Public Education Department titled .  

Conroy Chino, lobbyist for the Pueblos of Acoma and Taos, echoed Lente in emphasizing the bills鈥� importance during the portion of the meeting when lawmakers sought comments from the public.

The three measures would build up tribal education departments. 鈥淎nd this can鈥檛 happen without funding,鈥� Chino said.

According to HB 87 would appropriate $20 million into the state鈥檚 Indian Education Fund 鈥� more than the $5.25 million appropriated in fiscal year 2022 鈥� and would require at least 70% of that money to go directly to tribes.  Equally important, Lente said, was changing how money is distributed from one-off annual grants that require extra work to automatic funding year-in, year-out.

Jeremy Oyenque, the tribal education director for Santa Clara Pueblo, spoke from first-hand experience of how 鈥渃umbersome鈥� it is to apply for grants each year for educational dollars and to do it again the next year.

What happens in many cases, Lente said Tuesday in an interview with New Mexico In Depth, is that the grants aren鈥檛 received by the tribes until well into the state鈥檚 fiscal year, giving too little time to spend all the money. Whatever is unspent returns to the state, and tribes have to apply again for the education dollars for the next fiscal year. 

Chino and Oyenque were just two of more than a dozen people who spoke in favor of the bills, many of them representing the state鈥檚 tribal nations.

Bettina Sandoval, Director of the Education/Training Vision for the Taos Pueblo, told lawmakers the legislation, if passed, would allow tribes to 鈥渂etter target those funds for student needs.鈥�

鈥淭his will narrow the achievement gap because it will better provide us with resources so we鈥檙e equipped to address needs of our children at the community level,鈥� she told the lawmakers during the virtual meeting. 鈥淪taff know our students the best. They have the experience of working in tribal communities.鈥�

According to a fiscal impact report from the Legislative Finance Committee, the Legislature鈥檚 budget arm,  would appropriate an additional $21.5 million from the general fund to the Indian Education Fund, with specific spending directed as such:

鈥� $5.75 million for tribal education departments to build capacity and develop plans;

鈥� $5.75 million for tribal libraries鈥� educational operations; 

鈥� $10 million for tribal education departments to provide extended learning and Native language programs. 

A t for HB90 says it would appropriate $29.6 million from the general fund to four state colleges and three tribal colleges for 53 initiatives in eight areas to comply with the court鈥檚 rulings in the consolidated landmark 2018 education lawsuit.

One of the speakers in support of the legislation during the committee hearing Monday, Glenabah Martinez, a University of New Mexico professor and director of the Institute for American Indian Education, said the state is one of the first two states to have an . That law was passed in 2003 and updated in 2019.

鈥淲e have stood as an example鈥� for others looking to create their own Indian Education Acts, she told the committee.  鈥淣ow we should take a step forward and let鈥檚 fully implement it.鈥�

A longstanding critique by New Mexico鈥檚 tribal representatives is that the state has never fully funded the Indian Education Act or tried to achieve its goals.

Between House bills 87 and 88, Lente was asking for $41.5 million in the state budget. The state  that emerged Tuesday out of the House budget committee included $28 million for the Indian Education Fund.鈥淚t鈥檚 better than we鈥檝e been in the past,鈥� Lente said. 鈥淧ersonally, I am good to see the needle moving鈥�.

He was less pleased, however, with the language about how $15 million of that total would be divvied up. The language calls for distribution to more recipients than his bills contemplate and which he worries will dilute the impact of that education money on tribes. 

He鈥檒l try to change that language as the budget bill moves through the Legislature and ensure the $28 million earmarked for the Indian Education Fund stays at that level, he said. 

鈥淲e still have a lot of work to do,鈥� Lente said.

This story was by New Mexico In Depth

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