Priority #1: Ensure that Tribal Education Departments (TEDs) and Schools (TEAs) as legitimate and eligible entities for all programs at ED, especially as data partners and decision-makers.

Priority #2: Codify/improve STEP (clarify roles with SEAs/LEAs; sustain funding; improve identification of Native students for Title VI; enhance consultation) – reflected in ED’s STEP notices/final priorities.

Priority #3: Funding stability/forward funding for Native-serving programs (to avoid shutdown/RIF disruptions), a long-standing TEDNA appropriations ask and testimony theme.

Priority #4: Data sovereignty & access (recognize TEDs as authorized partners for education data and decision-making) – threaded through TEDNA comment/testimony records.

Priority #1: Formalize BIE- TED/TEA roles (consultations, MOUs, shared accountability) to improve outcomes for Indian students in BIE-funded schools (TEDNA consultation submissions emphasized inter-departmental coordination).

Priority #2: Expand support for Tribal Education Departments and Schools such as federal financial assistance for operations, governance, consultation, and accountability systems.

Priority #3: Sovereignty in governance (NARF’s work with TEDNA frames TEAs/TEDs as tribal executive-branch agencies and champions tribal governance over K-12).

Priority #1: Increase coordination between early learning, healthcare, mental health, and overall health resource administration programs that support the role of families as advisors for Tribal Education Departments and Schools.

Priority #2: Enable cross-system data sharing between TEDs and tribal health entities under Indigenous data governance principles (a recurring TEDNA/NARF through-line).

Priority #1: Build greater awareness for nutritional and rural development tools that improve school facilities and connectivity.

Priority #1: Leverage and recognize the role of Tribal Education Departments and Schools as primary workforce development training centers for local Native-serving economies.

Priority #1: Create scalable broadband infrastructure in Native communities that prioritizes remote learning, responsible data systems, and digital connectivity where remote learners can connect directly with their Tribal at long-distance.

Priority #2: Build scalable infrastructure to meet current/future needs (CRS summary of NTIA expectations) – grounding broadband asks in federal standards.

Priority #1: Improve Tribal Consultation by expanding advance notice to a minimum of 45 days prior to the consultation date.

Priority #2: Optimize inter-departmental coordination for all Native-serving programs between the Departments of Education, the Interior, Health and Human Services, Labor, Agriculture, and Commerce.

Priority #3: Enhance all congressional budget justifications that clearly label programs that Tribal Education Departments and Schools are eligible for so Congress can see which programs are due for expanded eligibility.