TEDNA

Brought to you by the National Indian Education Association:

Save the date — July 30, 2014 — to join NIEA and Native education stakeholders for an Advocacy Hill Day in Washington, DC. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Chairman Jon Tester (D-MT), House of Representatives Native American Caucus Co-Chair Tom Cole (R-OK), and numerous bipartisan co-sponsors have answered the call of Indian nations and Native education stakeholders to support immersion schools by introducing S. 1948 and H.R. 4214 – The Native Language Immersion Student Achievement Act.

We call on our partners this summer to join us and meet with your members to request the incorporation of full-day language immersion learning within eligible institutions. The Native Language Immersion Student Achievement Act achieves this by modernizing Title VII to promote co-existence of immersion schools within the broader ESEA. S. 1948 and H.R. 4214 honor the congressional intent of addressing the unique educational and cultural academic needs of Native students through the Indian Education Act by including Native languages as the medium of instruction where communities have the capacity and desire to engage in immersion.

Request that your congressional members:

1. Become a co-sponsor of S. 1948 and H.R. 4214 – the Native Language Immersion Student Achievement Act – to create a grant program for language immersion schools within the Title VII Indian Education Act of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).
2. Move quickly to pass S. 1948 and H.R. 4214, legislation that recognizes academic benefits of Native language immersion and Native communities’ need to advance such schools to create equal educational opportunities.
3. Honor patriotic use of Native languages and affirm tribal sovereignty by developing educational venues and effectively managing federal resources consistent with self-determination policies.

• DATE: Wednesday, July 30, 2014
• TIME: 9:00 to 11:30AM (EST), Individual Hill Meetings to Follow
• WHERE: Washington, DC; Capitol Hill, Congressional Room TBD
• SCHEDULE A MEETING: Please click here for congressional office contact information.

Thank you for your support. NIEA will provide pertinent materials early next week to supplement your advocacy efforts. For more information, please contact Clint J. Bowers, NIEA Policy Associate, at 202-544-7290 or cbowers@niea.org.