ral oversight and resources—such as grant money and special education—to tribal schools.
The suit also argues that the federal government did not properly consult tribes about the reforms.
“Since litigation is pending on that issue, we are unable to comment directly on this matter at this time,” Interior Department spokeswoman Jessica Kershaw said.
The BIE is overseen by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which is housed within the Interior Department.
The Great Plains Tribal Chairmen’s Association, which represents tribal leaders in Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota also opposes the plan.
Roessel maintains that the process is designed to be collaborative, not combative.
“Ultimately, and most importantly, the decision is up to each tribe,” Kershaw said. “Whatever a tribe decides, we are committed to providing better support to all of our schools and honoring our relationship with tribes.”
A visit to Montana may have played a role in the Obama administration’s focus on American Indian education.
Montana was one of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s first stops during his “listening and learning” tour in 2009, his first year on the job. Back then, the state’s Schools of Promise effort was in its infancy.
Duncan met with students, parents, and school leaders and heard concerns that would crop up years later in the 2014 listening tour.
President Barack Obama’s June 2014 visit to the Standing Rock Sioux reservation also helped generate momentum for state-level work to aid American Indian students, said Lucy Fredericks, the director of Indian and multicultural education for the North Dakota education department.
“There has been a greater emphasis, definitely,” Fredericks said.
But more than a year has passed since the president’s visit to Indian country, and states with significant American Indian populations are still struggling in their search for solutions.
The problems hit close to home for Juneau, the Montana superintendent. She’s a member of the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes, who grew up on her father’s reservation.
“When you see these communities, and you see the struggles and challenges, ... you also see the promise that exists,” Juneau said. “We have a serious obligation to do as much as we can.”
Mirroring Montana’s undertaking to target high-poverty schools, North Dakota has focused its push on lowering dropout rates and boosting parental involvement. The state also conducted a survey in schools with significant American Indian populations to assess the needs of students and families, inside the classroom and beyond the wall of schoolhouses.
Acknowledging that many of the problems are deep-rooted, Fredericks said state leaders are expecting gradual improvement, not rapid turnaround.
American Indian students are the largest student subgroups in Montana and North Dakota, but the problems exist from coast to coast. The federal listening tour, which drew more than 1,000 people, made stops from New York to California and up to Alaska.
“Schools need to be the hubs in many of these communities,” said Chris Minnich, the CCSSO’s executive director.
Minnich, who made the trip to Montana, plans to take his findings to the council’s members when they meet for their annual policy forum next month.
One of the challenges they will face is helping students self-identify their ancestry and districts better identify American Indian students, possibly increasing the flow of federal funding to districts that serve them.
Minnich hopes the membership, which includes Roessel, the Bureau of Indian Education director, will find ways to improve outcomes and education for any number of American Indians and other marginalized student subgroups such as English-language learners.
“This is part of an agenda for children who need more than what we’re giving them,” Minnich said.
A version of this article appeared in the October 28, 2015 edition of Education Week as State Chiefs Look to Montana for Ways to Meet the Needs Of Native American Students