Education programs run by Native American tribes in New Mexico rely in part on money from the state, but accessing those dollars makes it difficult to complete all of the work they envision.

Tribal leaders and advocates have long lobbied for a change. This year they want to make it happen.

Each year, tribes can apply for grants, and if their applications are approved, they must spend the money first and then submit documentation to the state for reimbursement. 

On paper, it sounds straightforward. But in reality, sometimes tribes can鈥檛 spend down all the money by an artificial deadline. In fiscal year 2020-2021, 22 tribes received grants under the Indian Education Act but only two  for the full amount they were awarded. 

It鈥檚 a cycle that repeats year after year, hampering their ability to realize the vision of educating their own children. 

With state lawmakers heading into the 2023 legislative session with a multi-billion dollar surplus, Rep. Derrick Lente, a Democrat from Sandia Pueblo, said he will introduce legislation to create a $50 million tribal education trust fund that would provide tribes automatic funding every year. 

Tribes would use annual interest earned on trust fund money for language revitalization efforts, resources such as wi-fi, and career readiness programs, among other priorities. It would give tribes greater autonomy, Lente said. Tribes could develop educational services guided entirely by their own communities rather than depend on small grants the state awards for specific uses.

Native people live in two societies with different educational focuses, he said, and tribes don鈥檛 want one to overwhelm the other. 

鈥淥ne being the more Western-focused society, where you go to school, you earn a diploma, you get a job, and you work at that job to sustain a family, that鈥檚 the Western style,鈥� he told New Mexico In Depth. 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 also our more traditional, Indigenous style of education where you learn the language, you learn the traditions and the culture. You learn the songs, you learn the dances.鈥�

The All Pueblo Council of Governors in November passed a resolution calling on state lawmakers to create such a fund. It鈥檚 time to make historic investments in the education and other needs of Native American children after decades of neglect, Lente and tribal leaders say.

The need for change

There鈥檚 a profound need to improve education for Native students. 

A landmark 2018 court ruling, Yazzie/Martinez v. State of New Mexico, found the state has failed its constitutional duty to provide an adequate education to Native children, along with low-income students, English language learners, and students with disabilities, who together represent 70% of students in the state.

That failure has resulted in poor outcomes for those student populations, including the lowest graduation rate in the country and low proficiency rates in reading and math.

Despite progress in recent years, Native students continue to graduate high school at lower rates than their peers, at 71.5% compared to 76.8% for all students in 2021. 

In New Mexico鈥檚 largest school district, Albuquerque Public Schools, Native students have the lowest proficiency in reading, math, and science of any student group, according to the . Math saw the worst rate of the three, with just 12.4% of Native students testing at or above proficient.   

And in 2019, only one out of 10 Native American students  that would earn the student college credits while still in high school, according to plaintiffs in the Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit.  

Automatic year-over-year funding for tribal education departments and greater tribal control over the education of Native children are two of several recommendations in the , a plan created in response to the court ruling that鈥檚 endorsed by leadership of the state鈥檚 23 tribes, pueblos, and nations. 

A trust fund that automatically generates interest revenue for tribally-controlled education would speak to both of those demands, which are rooted in a genocidal history regarding Indian education. 

Between 1819 and 1969, the federal government operated more than 400  designed to destroy Indigenous languages and cultures and assimilate Native children, who were taken from their families.

An untold number of children died, although the Department of the Interior has accounted for over 500 deaths according to a  published in May 2022 and expects that number could rise to the tens of thousands with continued investigation. 

Another result of the boarding school era has been a dramatic and rapid decline in the number of Native language speakers.

When the government eventually shut most of the boarding schools, many Native children went into the public school system, over which tribes, again, haven鈥檛 had authority and where children often aren鈥檛 given the opportunity to learn their heritage language. 

Take public school students in Albuquerque. 

Roughly 4,000 students affiliated with the Navajo Nation are enrolled in the city鈥檚 public schools, but as of late August, only about 200 of those students were taking Navajo language classes. 

Philip Farson, director of the district鈥檚 Indian Education Department,  that the district would need to hire up to 100 Navajo language teachers over the next few years to meet the language programming needs of all Din茅 students. 

The district, as of October, employed six.  

There are other deficiencies as well. 

鈥淚n tribal communities, there are few programs, few services, and very limited facilities,鈥� Lente told lawmakers at a joint meeting of the Indian Affairs and Legislative Education Study committees this fall. He and Regis Pecos, a former governor of Cochiti Pueblo and co-director of the Leadership Institute at Santa Fe Indian School, presented the trust fund proposal. 

鈥淚n many cases, and I think this was really brought to light by COVID, but even prior to COVID, students don鈥檛 have anywhere to go,鈥� Lente said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have anything on tribal lands. When you saw the pictures of the children huddled around a building outside simply to get their work done, that happened before COVID. It鈥檚 happening today still.鈥� 

Early on in the pandemic, some Native students  to connect to the schools鈥� broadband internet because they didn鈥檛 have it at home, according to court motions filed by school superintendents related to the 2018 Yazzie/Martinez court ruling. 

Many children travel from their tribal communities to go to public schools and when they go home for the day or the weekend, they often leave behind 鈥渢he opportunities and the abilities to continue to work like their peers and to learn like their peers,鈥� Lente said.

The majority of Native children in New Mexico attend public school rather than Bureau of Indian Education operated or tribally controlled schools 鈥� 40,759 students compared to 6,704 students, respectively, during the last school year, according to the state Public Education Department鈥檚 latest . 

The goal of the trust fund isn鈥檛 to build schools in every tribal nation, Lente said, but rather educational hubs 鈥� safe spaces, with heating in the winter and cooling in the summer, that could provide, for example, internet, language classes, tutoring, and college and career readiness programs to all Native students, regardless of whether they attend school in their tribal nations or go to public school. 

In Zia Pueblo, many of those services are already available to the pueblo鈥檚 children, most of whom attend school in nearby Jemez Pueblo, Bernalillo, and elsewhere. The pueblo is currently building  an early childhood education center that will also be used occasionally for community events.

Marsha Leno, Zia Pueblo鈥檚 education director, said revenue the tribe can count on every year would help grow the pueblo鈥檚 language program and staff to help guide students through an educational plan and ensure they鈥檙e receiving support in school. 

She鈥檇 also like to construct a building for her team to have offices and meeting space.  They are currently spread out in a handful of buildings. A central location, she said, would make it easier for community members to connect with services, and added tutoring and other academic assistance could also be offered there.

Those ambitions are informed by community input that Leno, who鈥檚 a member of Zia Pueblo and a Yazzie/Martinez plaintiff, said she worked hard to gather when she became director almost three years ago. 

Leno worked for two other tribal education departments before returning to her home community as an early childhood education manager and then director. 

鈥淢y thing was I was tired of making other tribal members from different tribes doctors, lawyers, sending them to school,鈥� Leno said. 鈥淲hy can鈥檛 I do it for my own people? That鈥檚 why I鈥檓 here. I want my people to be successful, too.鈥� 

A dysfunctional system

Tribes and school districts that serve Native American students apply for annual grants from the Indian Education Fund, set up by New Mexico鈥檚 2003 Indian Education Act, which is supposed to ensure equitable and culturally relevant education for Native children.

Education priorities identified in the grant requests vary by tribe. 

Isleta Pueblo鈥檚 priority for the roughly $92,000 it was awarded in 2020-2021, for instance, was 鈥渃ulture and identity development,鈥� according to . The grant鈥檚 outcomes included 150 students engaging in Tiwa language lessons and 30 students receiving internet hotspots to continue those lessons virtually.  

Santa Ana Pueblo, which was awarded nearly $100,000, focused on college, career, and life readiness, and reported that 12 students received credit recovery support and all middle and high schoolers got access to tutoring. 

Neither pueblo requested reimbursement for the full award amounts. 

One possible reason for that: Slow processing of funds by the Public Education Department can lead to grant recipients having less time to spend the funding, according to  by Legislative Finance Committee evaluators. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 a common occurrence and that鈥檚 definitely where bureaucracy gets in the way and almost sets up tribes, education departments to fail,鈥� Lente said.  

Between fiscal years 2018 and 2020, 29% of awards from the Indian Education Fund went unspent, according to the legislative report, which notes that grant recipients are required to submit documentation and invoices before the state releases funds. 

A  from the same committee called on the state education department to 鈥渋mprove the timeliness of grant administrative processes.鈥� 

It doesn鈥檛 help that many tribal education departments are understaffed and experience high turnover due to underfunding, making spending grants even more difficult, according to a December 2020 . 

Zia and Jemez Pueblo were the only tribes that requested full reimbursement in 2020-2021. 

Leno said despite Zia Pueblo鈥檚 spending the full grant amount, she鈥檚 been frustrated and at times confused by the state鈥檚 grant process, including reporting requirements. 

Grants go through a multi-stage approval process before they can be spent, which takes time away from implementation, Leno said. 鈥淲hy waste our time there when we have other priorities here within our community? I know we need the funding but we need to move forward.鈥�

State education department spokesperson Kelly Pearce wrote in an email the department 鈥渉as been actively streamlining the process to ensure that it is clear and consistent, easier to navigate and faster,鈥� but didn鈥檛 offer specifics.

There鈥檚 a need not only for consistent funding but also greater tribal control, Leno said. 

鈥淎llow us to run our departments the way we want to run them,鈥� she said.

Money generated by the proposed trust fund would be distributed to tribes annually based on a formula and the dollars that are unspent wouldn鈥檛 return to the state. 

Staff from the Legislative Education Study Committee and the State Investment Council, which manages investments for the state鈥檚 four permanent funds, helped develop the concept. 

鈥淕iven the nature of things in New Mexico, where oil and gas prices can drive budget cuts one year and deliver giant windfalls just a few years later, these funds help you plan for the future and help steady the ship when things get rough,鈥� Charles Wollmann, communications director for the investment council, told lawmakers at the September meeting where Lente and Pecos presented the proposal. 

The trust fund wouldn鈥檛 replace the Indian Education Fund, Pecos said in an interview, but would add to it, empowering tribes to create sustainable, community-based programs. 

鈥淚t comes at a time when language and culture is at its most fragile state it鈥檚 ever been,鈥� Pecos said. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 because of the waves of the onslaught of policies and laws to purposefully kill language and culture to assimilate our people, but the resistance has been 150 years of pushing back鈥f we don鈥檛 succeed, we can see the end of language and as our elders say, when we lose language and we lose, subsequently, culture and a way of life, that will be the end of who we are as Indigenous peoples.鈥� 

Pecos served for many years as executive director of the state Office of Indian Affairs and, later, chief of staff to the late Speaker of the state House of Representatives Ben Luj谩n. He said that while his legislative history spans over almost 25 years, he considers the trust fund proposal to be the most important of his career.

鈥淚f we prevail, it may be the game-changer we鈥檝e not had in the last 150 years,鈥� Pecos said. 

Recent history, however, suggests the education trust fund might need substantial persuasion to pass muster with state lawmakers.

Lente sponsored two bills during the 2022 session that would鈥檝e given tribes more than $40 million for education. One of the bills would have also created a recurring appropriation in the annual state budget that tribes could鈥檝e counted on. 

, and the Indian Education Fund got $15 million. 

The boost, while less than what Lente had sought, was a substantially greater amount than any previous year. 

Neither the Legislature鈥檚 nor Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham鈥檚 budget requests include funding for the education trust fund, but when asked whether the governor supports the proposal, spokesperson Nora Meyers Sackett said Lujan Grisham is asking for over $25 million, up from the current $15 million, for the Indian Education Fund. 

At the request of tribal governments, her administration is also proposing budgetary language that would extend the grant cycle to two years, Meyers Sackett said, with the state education department able to extend that time period if needed through future appropriations language.

Asked whether he鈥檚 optimistic about the trust fund proposal passing, Lente said: 鈥淚 have to be. This is an initiative that we don鈥檛 take a break from.鈥�

This story was originally published by .

Growing up in Albuquerque, high school junior Brook Chavez, who is Din茅, never had a Native American teacher until last year, when she took a Navajo language and culture class. 

There, the 16 year old learned more about her culture and connected with other Din茅 youth, coming away prouder about who she is. She felt understood by her teacher, David Scott, also Din茅, in ways she hasn鈥檛 always in the classroom. 

鈥淚 learned a lot about my clans, my stories,鈥� Chavez said, adding that at the end of the first semester, she and her classmates performed at Native American Winter Stories, an Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) event. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 one of my fondest memories because I got to dress up traditional with all my friends.鈥�

Chavez just wishes she hadn鈥檛 had to wait so long. 

There鈥檚 consensus among advocates and education officials that it鈥檚 important for teacher workforces to be representative of student populations, which research shows is linked to better student outcomes. Same-race teachers can act as important advocates and role models.

But Chavez鈥檚 experience is one that many Native American children attending school in Albuquerque are unlikely to have in the classroom, at least in the near future. 

While parents of nearly 10% of APS students report they have tribal affiliations, only 1.2% of teachers the district employed during the last school year were Native American, according to district data. 

The state Public Education Department identified increasing racial diversity among teachers as a priority in its  released in May in response to Yazzie/Martinez v. State of New Mexico, a 2018 court ruling that found the state has failed to provide an adequate education to Native children, among other student groups. 

And district officials in Albuquerque say they鈥檙e working to hire more Native American teachers. As part of that effort, they鈥檝e started a state-funded pilot program this school year. 

But challenges stand in the way, including increasing living costs in the city and a less-than-robust educator pipeline.

鈥淢any of our children will never see a Native American teacher in their entire school career and that鈥檚 simply because the pipeline is not there to support Native Americans as they come out of high school,鈥� said Rep. Derrick Lente, D-Sandia Pueblo, who for the past several years has sponsored legislation aimed at improving education for Native children. 

Diversity gaps 

There is a sizable Native American population in Albuquerque, New Mexico鈥檚 largest city and home to one of the largest school districts in the nation, with 73,346 students as of the last school year. 

A significant number of those students are Native American.

When parents enroll their children in Albuquerque Public Schools, they report their children鈥檚 race and ethnicity to the district. During the last school year, 5.2% of students were recorded as being Native American, but 9.8% of students were reported by their parents as having tribal affiliations. 

The latter figure is more representative of the actual number of students identifying as Native American, said Philip Farson, senior director of the district鈥檚 Indian Education Department.  Many students are multiracial, Farson said, and end up being recorded as a race other than Native American despite their tribal affiliations. 

A student census shows students from over 100 tribal nations and communities, the Navajo Nation accounting for the majority, with about 57% of Native students. There are significant populations from Laguna and Zuni Pueblos and a large number of students from tribes outside of the U.S., mostly in Mexico and Canada, according to the district. 

In total, 7,192 students reported tribal affiliations. Meanwhile, the district employed 65 Native American teachers during the last school year. That means that for every Native teacher, there were about 110 Native children. 

That gap has only slightly narrowed over the past decade. In the 2011-2012 school year, for every Native teacher, there were 117 Native children. 

Having enough teachers that share the same race or ethnicity of students isn鈥檛 just a struggle involving Native students. 

There are also significantly fewer Hispanic teachers than students 鈥� with 28% of teachers identifying as Hispanic compared to a student population that is two-thirds Hispanic. 

鈥淚 think this is an unfortunate theme across the nation, really,鈥� Lente said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just in the Albuquerque public school system, it鈥檚 not just in New Mexico, but it鈥檚 across the nation.鈥�

Indeed, gaps in racial diversity between teachers and students, as Lente pointed out, are both state and national trends. 

During the last school year, 10% of students in New Mexico public schools were Native American while 3% of teachers were Native, according to the state education department. White students made up 23% of the overall population, while 59% of teachers were white. 

Nationally, about 79% of public school teachers identified as non-Hispanic white during the 2017-2018 school year, while only 47% of students were white, according to a  last year. 

The importance of representation

Education officials, advocates and students alike agree that closing those diversity gaps is crucial in improving students鈥� overall experiences and boosting their academic achievements. There鈥檚 a substantial body of research that backs that up. 

For instance, Black students are 13% more likely to graduate high school and 19% more likely to enroll in college if they had at least one Black teacher by third grade, according to a 2018 National Bureau of Economic Research . 

Researchers say there are likely a combination of factors that explain why teachers鈥� race, as well as their gender, matters, the New York Times , including that same-race teachers may introduce new material in a way that鈥檚 more culturally relevant. 

Teachers who understand where their students come from can act as advocates, said Dr. Glenabah Martinez (Taos Pueblo/Din茅), a professor in the University of New Mexico鈥檚 (UNM) Department of Language, Literacy and Sociocultural Studies.

As an example, Martinez cited Native American students possibly needing to be absent for a number of days to participate in ceremonies in their tribal communities. 

鈥淚f a teacher is from that same community, that teacher completely understands why that student needs to participate and how that student isn鈥檛 just missing the white man鈥檚 school, the Western school, but they are getting a different type of education that is intensive in terms of the cultural knowledge,鈥� Martinez said. 鈥淎 Native teacher understands that and they can therefore advocate for that student.鈥� 

She also said it鈥檚 important for school districts to have Native American administrators who can guide the creation of culturally relevant curriculum and policies. 

For Chavez, who鈥檚 in her junior year at La Cueva High School, having a Native teacher meant that she felt a level of support and acceptance she rarely felt in earlier grades.

She remembers other kids calling her 鈥淚ndian鈥� and 鈥淧ocahontas鈥� in elementary school, and the climate at her high school 鈥� where 4.7% of students have tribal affiliations, according to district data for the last school year 鈥� isn鈥檛 much better, she said. Teachers sometimes single her out, turning to her during lessons that feature Native American cultures or historical figures 鈥� regardless of whether they have anything to do with the Navajo Nation 鈥� and asking her to weigh in.

鈥淭hey鈥檒l say, 鈥極h, you鈥檙e Native, you should tell us more about it,鈥欌�� said Chavez, who鈥檚 a member of the Native American Student Union at her school. 

Scott鈥檚 class was a reprieve. Two days a week, Chavez and a handful of other students from around the city rode buses to the classroom. She became close with some of her peers, who she stays in touch with despite no longer sharing a class.

鈥淢y students said they felt better coming in,鈥� Scott said. 鈥淭hey felt like they belonged, as opposed to when they were at their school they were kind of ridiculed and ashamed to say who they were鈥 told them, you just have to stand your ground but be proud of who you are.鈥�

Scott shared with his students that as a boy, he stayed with his aunt in Texas for the summer and other kids asked him how long it took him to set up his tipi. In college, his peers assumed he was getting a monthly check from the casino, he said.

鈥淚 just told them [his students], prepare yourself, educate them,鈥� he said. 

Chavez wouldn鈥檛 have had Scott as a teacher had she not made the effort to take a Navajo language course, which involved traveling to another campus twice a week. 

Scott is one of six Navajo language teachers that APS employs. 

To meet the language programming needs of the roughly 4,000 students affiliated with the Navajo Nation, Farson said the district would need to hire up to 100 Navajo language teachers over the next few years.

As of late August, about 200 Din茅 students are enrolled in language classes, according to district spokeswoman Monica Armenta, and 40 Zuni students are enrolled in language classes taught by the two Zuni language teachers the district employs. 

Chavez desperately wants to keep learning the Navajo language, but there鈥檚 not a higher level class she can take this year. She worries she鈥檒l never be fluent. 

Part of why she opted to take Scott鈥檚 class was because it meant 鈥渒eeping the culture alive.鈥� Her grandma, who was sent to  as a child, is the last fluent Navajo speaker in her family, and her sister and cousins aren鈥檛 interested in learning, Chavez said. 

The federal government, beginning in the early 1800s, removed Native children from their families and sent them to schools designed to strip them of their cultures. Abuse ran rampant and hundreds of children died, according to  the U.S. Department of the Interior released in May, although the department expects that number could rise to the tens of thousands with continued investigation.

鈥淢y grandma didn鈥檛 want to teach her kids Navajo because of what happened to her,鈥� Chavez said. 鈥淪he talks about it now but she still says she鈥檚 a little scared. She鈥檚 really traumatized by the boarding school.鈥� 

Not enough

Albuquerque district officials said they recognize hiring more Native teachers is important but they鈥檙e drawing from a limited supply.

鈥淭he district could declare that 5% of our positions have to be filled by Native American educators but they鈥檇 run into the reality that there aren鈥檛 enough Native American educators to go around,鈥� Farson, APS鈥檚 Indian Education Department director, said. 

The department also struggles with retention because the pay, at least for leadership positions, isn鈥檛 competitive, Farson said. 

鈥淲hen we find qualified talent, how do we keep it? That鈥檚 our challenge.鈥�

Some Native teachers the district does employ echo Farson, pointing to a lack of affordable housing in the city.

鈥淚 was looking but rent is so high and teachers鈥� pay is not enough to cover it, to even survive on,鈥� said Scott, who began teaching the Navajo language in Albuquerque last year. He commuted the entire school year from Naschitti, which is north of Gallup. It鈥檚 more than a five-hour round trip. 鈥淎 couple times, probably three times, I just slept in my vehicle.鈥�

Mildred Chiquito, who teaches Navajo at Atrisco Heritage Academy High School, lives in Torreon, about 85 miles northwest of the school, with her elderly parents and her 17-year-old daughter.

She wishes there was teacher housing in Albuquerque.

鈥淚t鈥檚 hard paying for electricity, water and stuff in the city,鈥� Chiquito said. 鈥淪ome teachers are single parents and they鈥檙e just trying to make ends meet鈥 told my parents if I had teacher housing in Albuquerque, I would take them there and they would stay with me three days out of the week or something and then we go home, back on the reservation.鈥�

The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies鈥�  for 2022 indicates double-digit increases in Albuquerque area rents. 

Some school districts across the country, including in  and , have recently asked parents to temporarily house teachers. One district south of San Francisco recently  a 122-unit apartment complex for teachers and staff on district property.

Chiquito said that while she would like to live in the city on weekdays, the drive is worth it. 

鈥淚 love what I do and I love just giving back to the school and I don鈥檛 mind the sacrifices of driving,鈥� she said. 

She began over a decade ago when she received a certification that allows people who are experts in the language and culture of a specific tribe or pueblo but don鈥檛 necessarily have a college degree to teach in K-12 schools. In March, the Legislature  establishing equal pay for Native language teachers such as Chiquito.

When it comes to recruiting Native teachers, there鈥檚 also somewhat of an urban and rural divide.

Martinez, the UNM professor, is heading up  that aims to help Native people become teachers and work in their home communities. 

鈥淲e can鈥檛 forget that we need teachers who are committed to their own Native communities, to a Native community because they care about the community and it鈥檚 located in an area that鈥檚 maybe not close to the malls and the 24-hour coffee shops,鈥� Martinez said. 鈥淚 think we need teachers all over the place, rural and urban, but we鈥檙e doing a more concerted effort to recruit Native teachers to be teachers in their own communities so they don鈥檛 have to move to Albuquerque.鈥� 

Pipeline focused on Native students doesn鈥檛 exist, yet

Earlier this year, APS received a $200,000 grant from the state education department鈥檚  to place a teacher with experience working with Native students along with a coordinator for three years at Mission Avenue STEM Magnet School, where about 20% of students are Native. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 trying to take an in-depth look at, not only how are students connected and represented within the curriculum of the school, but the staffing of the school,鈥� Farson said, adding that by the end of the program, the school is expected to have a staff that鈥檚 representative of the student body. 鈥淢y hope is that in that process we鈥檒l really be able to surface the real issues and challenges and a plan for how to address them across the district and not just at one school.鈥�

The district recently hired a teacher who鈥檚 set to start later this month. The coordinator position is still vacant. 

In his experience with similar grant-funded programs, Farson said the first year 鈥渋s always a bit rough鈥� but the district eventually fills the positions. 

Rather than trying to recruit teachers from around the state, Farson said the long-term solution is to build locally. 

鈥淥ver time, our real solution is to figure out how to develop the interests of those 7,000 students who have tribal affiliations here in APS to want to become educators and stay here,鈥� Farson said. 

State and district education officials cite a number of programs centered around pipeline development, but none of them target Native people in particular, and most don鈥檛 target high schoolers. 

There鈥檚 the district鈥檚 teacher residency program, which pairs people pursuing a degree in education with an experienced co-teacher at a high-need school for 15 months. Residents agree to teach within the district for an additional three years after completing the state-funded program, which the district runs in partnership with UNM and the Albuquerque Teachers Federation. 

There鈥檚 also a residency program with Central New Mexico Community College specifically for special education. 

The majority of residents across both programs 鈥� about 120 people 鈥� are still teaching in the district, according to Valerie Hoose, executive director of labor relations and staffing for the district. 

The district also participates in the state education department鈥檚 two-year Educator Fellows program, geared toward educational assistants who want to become certified educators. Fellows receive hands-on experience, mentorship, and a stipend. 

鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping to stop that bottleneck that happens in the teacher pipeline where we have a lot of people that graduate out of programs and don鈥檛 sustain in the field,鈥� said Layla Dehaiman, director of the department鈥檚 educator quality and ethics division.

While people have to be over 18 to take part in the program, Dehaiman said department staff have been reaching out to high school seniors and have recruited several recent graduates.

Dehaiman said the department has also been holding a Native American teacher working group over the past year that鈥檚 focused on barriers to licensure and long-term recruitment strategies.

Hoose said that getting young people interested in becoming educators is challenging partly because there鈥檚 a lot of competition for workers, adding that a widely available internship program for high schoolers might be a useful tool.

鈥淲e have a lot of CTE [career technical education] around the state and I think if education was one of those, where students could have access to information and experiences around teaching, that would be helpful,鈥� Hoose said. 

One future teacher might be Chavez. 

With high school graduation in sight, Chavez has been giving some thought to potential careers. While she鈥檚 concerned she wouldn鈥檛 make enough money in education, she said teaching鈥檚 always been an aspiration of hers. 

鈥淚 want to be a supportive teacher that I didn鈥檛 have growing up,鈥� Chavez said. 鈥淎 lot of these Native kids are going unnoticed.鈥�