Regis Pecos addresses the Yazzie lawsuit; its implications and opportunities.
The First Judicial District Court has now validated and affirmed what countless reports commissioned over the years by the Executive branch, by Congress, by the State of New Mexico have concluded: the systems and institutions have failed Native American students miserably. What has been known and voiced by education advocates is now unequivocally supported and affirmed in the recent court decision. There has been a systemic failure creating the current systemic crisis. The decision is a watershed moment in education history, a landmark case in Indian education history.
There have been heroic efforts by our tribal leaders, Native American legislators and their allies and advocates over the years who labored and struggled to make inroads to build the foundation and framework that exists today. Their advocacy is exemplified by the development and adoption of an Indian education policy, the creation of an Indian education division, enacting the Indian Education Act, creating an Assistant Secretary of Indian Education, creation of an Indian education fund, amended statutes to make Indian languages a part of the heritage language family, forcing the state to acquiesce to the sovereign Indian nations to develop their own criteria and standards to certify Native language teachers. But resources to fulfill the promise of their vision always fell short.
Their efforts were further thwarted with No Child Left Behind and the Martínez administration's education reform initiatives with high stakes testing and teacher evaluations, which all but marginalized the very foundation and framework that gave so much promise.
The federal government's failure to assimilate Indians into mainstream society resulted in the shift to contract with states in 1934 with the enactment of the Johnson O'Malley Act, resulting in forced integration of Indian students into the public school system. This shift resulted in 90 percent of all Indian students in New Mexico today enrolled in public schools.
Designate Secretary of the Public Education Christopher Ruszkowski stated just a few months ago that the core values drawn from Manifest Destiny are what make education in America so great. With such statements, he could have been the author of the first Indian Education Policy. What this administration has subjected our children to is not fundamentally different from those dark days. It epitomizes the racial injustice and inequality that continue today.
We have come a long way, but statements like that from the highest-ranking education leader in the state show that little has changed since 1890. Thus, the lawsuit became the last and only means for justice and equality for our children. And now Judge Singleton has ruled that the State of New Mexico is in violation of its constitution.
Why is the decision in Yazzie a watershed moment?
Judge Singleton addresses the state's failure with explicit references to Native American children page after page and cites how the state has failed to fulfill its constitutional obligations. Never before has there been such delineation and articulation with specific reference to Native American children in any legal case in New Mexico history. The ruling affirms that the state is constitutionally responsible for ensuring that all our students have an equal opportunity to succeed. It is a defining moment in a long struggle for justice and equity for all students.
Our dual citizenship status should force us to think how expansive this language is or can be. If this was the extent of the acknowledgement in the court's opinion with indirect reference to Native American children, we could stretch the applicability of these definitions of an adequate education as dual citizens to apply to our societies, our economies and our communities in addition to our state citizenship. But the decision goes further and more directly and explicitly to cite violations against Native American children.
in academics or the job market.
elevates the importance of public education in the state by clarifying the governance structure at different levels.
The Indian Education Act and Indian Education Policy contain all these elements. This framework is the heart of Rep. Lente's legislative initiative that twice passed near unanimously and Gov. Martínez vetoed twice. The Pueblo Convocation recommendations speak directly to these articulated elements to be essential, relevant and necessary.
teaching students to appreciate the value and beauty of language and cultures.
The court makes reference to the difference between bilingualism and English Language Learners. They are not the same. It references the application of the federal Equal Educational Opportunities Act (EEOA) that declares unlawful "the failure by an education agency to take appropriate action to overcome language barriers that impede equal participation by its students in its instructional programs." The state is in violation.
Representatives at the Convocation identified these same issues as paramount to addressing the issues of equity for Native American students. The lack of these materials make it impossible to fully implement Native language programs without resources for appropriate instructional materials.
Why is the ruling so significant?
This ruling is particularly significant to Native American students. The state can no longer deny them equal opportunities. The court vindicates students' constitutional right to a quality education. The decision strongly affirms that our children are deserving of the justice and equality sought in the lawsuit. The state must now answer decades of inaction. Our children are just as capable, have just as much potential as any other child. We must continue to fight for the constitutional right for a sufficient education for all children.
Expert Indian education advocates were called upon and their expert testimony and witness exposed the state's inexcusable failings. The court acknowledged our evidence as valid: the state is denying our students the educational opportunities to which they are guaranteed by the New Mexico Constitution.
The outcome of the proceedings from the recent Pueblo Convocation, identifying the barriers, sharing what works and the development and articulation of recommendations could not have been more timely. They will serve to be profoundly valuable. The recommendations will serve to guide our collective efforts moving forward.
The recommendations for early childhood education, primary and secondary, higher education and the transfer of cultural knowledge are right in line with the court's conclusion as to what will be necessary to fulfill the state's obligation. The vision, wisdom and insights are unbelievably within the framework and the scope of the Honorable Judge Singleton's decision.
The issues with building teacher capacity, responding to addressing the relevance in curriculum, resources to support the development of instructional materials, permanent funding for Native language programs, resource support for building teacher capacity, resource support for materials and curriculum development, resource support for wrap around services, institutionalization for college readiness programs, responding to the school to prison pipeline as a result of education system failures, investment in expansion of tribal libraries to support after school-community based student services, governance restructuring and accountability and strengthening communities, school and higher education relationships through agreements and protocols among other recommendations will be critical to advance in the next stage in the process both administratively and legislatively.
The court has spoken. It has spoken in our favor.
Regis Pecos (Cochiti Pueblo) is co-director of the Santa Fe Indian School's Leadership Institute.