So we all know that the sequester is hurting a lot of people. Here's one particular group that's really
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Military families are always moving around, and those shifts can be tough for children who have to adjust to new surroundings. School districts that serve these students often try to ease the transition by providing counselors for them to talk with. But thanks to sequestration, the Central Union School District in Lemoore, Calif., has had to get rid of that service.
"These [military parents] are deployed on a ship for nine months. The kids don't see a parent or two for that long. So they have to deal with that," said Jack Boogaard, the assistant superintendent of schools in the district.
"The military child moves quite often," he said. "We talk to some kids out there -- and they're young -- and they've already moved four or five times. So they have to deal with new friends, new schools, and now with tight budgets, we're not able to service them. We used to have a counselor; we don't have a counselor anymore."
Central Union schools receive what is known as "impact aid," which the federal government gives to schools that educate children who live on Indian reservations, military bases or in low-income housing. The government assistance is intended to make up for decreased property taxes in school systems based on federal land.
In total, the more than 1,300 schools that receive impact aid will receive $60 million less than expected this year, according to the Department of Education, as a result of the wide-ranging spending cuts known as sequestration.
Boogaard's schools alone, which serve children from both the nearby military base and Indian land, lost $350,000 this year due to the cuts.
Eliminating the counselor was just the tip of the iceberg for Central Union. The district has also stopped filling vacant positions, meaning that overworked staff are now taking on multiple roles.
"Not only do I take care of the business end of the schools, but I also take care of facilities," Boogaard said. "We have another assistant superintendent -- she has human resources, she has special ed, she has technology, she has curriculum. In some districts, each one is one position."
Central Union has also had to cut its technology program. So while the schools have technology labs, there are no teachers devoted to the subject. Students only get experience if their primary teachers have the expertise and decide to take them to the labs. - Huffington Post, 5/20/13
Senator Al Franken (D. MN) has been making the sequester's effects on Native American schools a key issue since these cuts have been hurting his constituents at home:
http://www.startribune.com/...
Schools on Minnesota’s American Indian reservations are already suffering from the across-the-board budget cuts of the federal sequester, taking a hit months before the rest of the country’s classrooms will feel the effects of reduced funding.
The White Earth Reservation could cut the school year short at its federally funded tribal school.
The Red Lake School District, where the high school was the site of a shooting that left seven people dead in 2005, has scaled back its security staff.
And school officials on reservations across the state have already slashed this year’s budgets in anticipation of sequester cuts, packing more students in classrooms, trimming class offerings and letting vacant jobs go unfilled.
“There’s a real sense of frustration for everybody,” Red Lake Superintendent Steve Wymore said.
The cuts come as tribal schools have begun making strides against their historically low graduation rates. For the class of 2012, graduate rates for American Indians rose 3 points — the first sizable increase in years. Typically in Minnesota, 45 percent of American Indian students earn a high school diploma in four years. The statewide graduation rate for all students is 87 percent.
“Sequestration is a terrible way to deal with our budget,” said U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., a member of the Senate committees on education and Indian affairs. “This would be a huge disservice to these kids, and I hope we can get this fixed soon.” - Star Tribune, 5/19/13
On May 7th, Franken made a speech on the Senate floor highlighting how drastic Native American students are being affected by the sequester. You can read the speech here:
http://www.franken.senate.gov/...
These cuts to schools on reservations are the centerpiece to Franken's call to replacing the sequester:
“The severe cuts made to programs that benefit Native American Students are a distressing reminder of why we need to replace the entire sequester," Franken said in a statement to The Huffington Post. "The U.S. Department of Education estimates that Minnesota school districts may lose almost one million dollars in critical funding for these students. As a result, students could see increased class sizes, fewer afterschool programs, and maintenance projects at their schools delayed. Children in Indian Country are hurting because of the sequester, and it's only going to get worse if we don't get something done.” - Huffington Post, 5/20/13
Franken is not only calling for replacing the sequester, he's also making sure that Sally Jewell, the new secretary of the Department of the Interior, is making funding for Native American education a top priority:
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“Indian education is an embarrassment…to you and to us,” she testified, adding that she wants tribal self determination and self governance to play a big role in creating academically rigorous and culturally relevant curricula. (Many past secretaries at Interior have made similar promises without much action—a reality Heitkamp highlighted in talking about how policymakers in her state responded with rhetoric to many Indian problems when she previously served as Attorney General in North Dakota.)
Jewell said that the Department has spent $2 billion on Indian school improvements and renovations over the last 10 years, but there are still 68 Interior schools that have “vast needs.”
Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) said he knew the bleak situation all too well, noting that a school on the Leech Lake Reservation in his state currently has a leaking roof, mold, rodents, and generally unsafe conditions.
Franken added that President Barack Obama has asked for no funding in his 2014 budget to go toward rebuilding such schools. “This is unacceptable, and I hope you will work to change that request in the future,” he told Jewell. - Indian Country Today media Network, 5/15/13
Franken really knocks it out of the park with this statement:
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"When the wind starts blowing at a certain rate, they have to leave the school because it doesn't meet the safety standards. This can be when it's 20 below zero in northern Minnesota. It puts the Indian education system to shame," Franken said. - U.S. News, 5/15/13
I thank Senator Franken for not only looking out for the concerns for Native Americans all over the country but also calling for replacing the sequester. It's hurting our country and preventing us from recovering. If you'd like to get more information, please contact Senator Franken's office and they might be able to answer your questions:
(202) 224-5641
By the way, Senator Franken recently had his Birthday, (May 21st). You can click here to donate and wish Al a Happy Birthday with a donation to his re-election campaign:
https://secure.alfranken.com/...