Sioux Empire Today

The House Committee on Natural Resources recently convened an oversight hearing to address issues within the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). This session was prompted by U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson from South Dakota, who highlighted significant challenges faced by tribal schools in his state.

Johnson introduced Cecilia Fire Thunder of the Oglala Sioux Tribe during the hearing. He emphasized the pressing need for improvements in Indian education, stating, “I have been to these schools, I have talked to the tribal educators and every single time, the passionate message from them is the same. These schools are underfunded, they are mismanaged. There are problems from one end of the situation to the other, and you can tell they care about these kids and we’re failing these kids.”

Fire Thunder detailed specific infrastructure issues plaguing tribal schools. She noted that basic repairs often require diverting funds from other federal programs intended for student education. “We cannot educate a second-grade student in a cold school, allow a middle schooler to use broken toilets in a building that is not insulated, or tolerate having high school math classes take place in a classroom that consistently leaks throughout winter,” she said.

She further explained that while tribally controlled schools manage these facilities on behalf of the federal government’s trust responsibility to tribes, Congress has not allocated sufficient funds for their maintenance. “The federal government built and owns these buildings... In simple terms, Congress is not appropriating adequate funds to pay their building’s utility bills,” Fire Thunder continued.

Both Johnson and Fire Thunder called for Congress to ensure appropriate funding so that educational resources are not depleted due to budgetary shortfalls related to facility operations.