Native Americans have very few educational opportunities: They represent less than 1% of the
student population in the United States. Since 2008, their graduation rates have been dropping,
and their dropout rate is twice the nation's average.
This is an important cause for it is related to the Native American community's development:
if its newest generations can't get the right education, they won't be able to make much
progress in the future.
1 - Indigenous communities fail to graduate or achieve proficiency compared to other student groups in America:
It is necessary to give them better school equipment so they can finally reach the State's level of education.
2 - Centuries ago, the United States government signed a treaty with Native Americans agreeing
that in exchange for land, the government would operate and fund schools for Native students.
Since then, the U.S. government has failed to keep that promise.
Many schools in Alaska, Oklahoma, and South Dakota have deficient courses to properly teach
Native language and culture. It is often due to the fact that the school is run by the federal government
rather than the tribe itself. Like many rural schools, they are underfunded and struggle to attract teachers:
They have poor physical structure and more than half of Native schools lag behind our century's
standards,lacking computers and internet access used for online learning.
3 - Dropout can be related to racism: it is still present and can force a native student to
quit their studies. It is partly because in the past, natives have been deported to
"Indian reservations" in the 19th century. Those who didn't want to be segregated were not
allowed to be US citizens. It was not until 1975 that the Supreme Court said that tribes are
sovereign over their tribal lands.
Still, discrimination is present everywhere and especially in schools: We need to hold sensibilization
campaigns against that, especially for younger ages to prevent it from happening again.
No educational opportunities means no future opportunities. If we wait another 5 years, their civilization
will be too far back in development compared to the rest of the United States.
Close the achievement gap between Native students and the general population now!
Act before it's too late!
