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Recommendations Heard To Improve Education For Native American Students

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Numbers released on Tuesday showed that Native American students in Minnesota have among the lowest graduation and highest dropout rates in the country.

The data showed that nearly 50 percent of the 20,000 Native American students in public schools fail to graduate high school on time. Now, tribes and state education officials are working to turn things around.

The Indian Education Working Group was at the Capitol Wednesday, asking lawmakers for more money and resources to research obstacles that Native American students face.

"We're not going quick enough," said Dennis Olson, of the Office of Indian Education. "And we're not getting at the attack of the achievement gap like we absolutely need to, with urgency."

One of the group's recommendations included allocating $7.5 million annually, in addition to $4.5 million Gov. Mark Dayton has already proposed, to support all schools that enroll Native American students.

Tribal leaders said they are also concerned that the GED has become more challenging and are asking lawmakers to allow sovereign nations to choose other high school competency tests of their choice.

Additionally, they want boards of charter schools that operate within tribal communities to have more flexibility to make their own decisions.

The bottom line is: They want Native American children to be leaders in Minnesota education.

The senate education committee seemed open to the recommendations. Lawmakers plan to have another hearing before making any decisions.

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