The US Senate is debating the Every Child Achieves Act, which replaces No Child Left Behind. Senator Mike Rounds hopes an amendment to the measure helps improve the quality of education in Indian Country.
US Senator Mike Rounds says in some parts of the country tribal schools have graduation rates below 40 percent, compared to the nation’s average of about 80 percent. He says his amendment directs the Department of the Interior and the Department of Education to conduct a study in rural and poverty stricken areas of Indian Country.
“The study would identify federal barriers that restrict tribes from implementing common sense regional policies instead of a one size fits all policy directed out of Washington,” Rounds says. “It would identify recruitment and retention options for teachers and school administrators. It would identify the limitations in funding sources and the flexibility for such schools and hopefully provide strategies on how to increase high school graduation rates.”
Rounds says the Senate unanimously passed the amendment and it’s now part of the Every Child Achieves Act. He expects the Senate to pass the bill sometime next week.