By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the
laws of the United
States of America, in affirmation of the unique political and legal
relationship of the
Federal Government with tribal governments, and in recognition of the
unique educational
and culturally related academic needs of American Indian and Alaska
Native students, it is
hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Goals. The Federal Government has a special, historic
responsibility for the
education of American Indian and Alaska Native students. Improving
educational
achievement and academic progress for American Indian and Alaska Native
students is
vital to the national goal of preparing every student for responsible
citizenship, continued
learning, and productive employment. The Federal Government is
committed to
improving the academic performance and reducing the dropout rate of
American Indian
and Alaska Native students. To help fulfill this commitment in
a manner consistent with
tribal traditions and cultures, Federal agencies need to focus special
attention on six goals:
(1) improving reading and mathematics; (2) increasing high school completion
and
postsecondary attendance rates; (3) reducing the influence of long-standing
factors that
impede educational performance, such as poverty and substance abuse;
(4) creating
strong, safe, and drug-free school environments; (5) improving science
education; and (6)
expanding the use of educational technology.
Sec. 2. Strategy. In order to meet the six goals of this
order, a comprehensive Federal
response is needed to address the fragmentation of government services
available to
American Indian and Alaska Native students and the complexity of intergovernmental
relationships affecting the education of those students. The
purpose of the Federal
activities described in this order is to develop a long-term, comprehensive
Federal Indian
education policy that will accomplish those goals.
(a) Interagency Task Force.
There is established an Interagency Task Force on
American Indian and Alaska Native Education (Task Force) to oversee
the planning and
implementation of this order. The Task Force shall confer with
the National Advisory
Council on Indian Education (NACIE) in carrying out activities under
this order. The
Task Force shall consult with representative of American Indian and
Alaska Native Tribes
and organizations, including the National Indian Education Association
(NIEA) and the
National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), to gather advice on implementation
of
the activities called for in this order.
(b) Composition of the Task
Force. (1) The membership of the Task Force shall
include representatives of the Departments of the Treasury, Defense,
Justice, the Interior,
Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and
Urban
Development, Transportation, Energy, and Education, as well as the
Environmental
Protection Agency, the Corporation for National and Community Service,
and the
National Science Foundation. With the agreement of the Secretaries
of Education and the
Interior, other agencies may participate in the activities of the Task
Force.
(2) Within 30 days of the
date of this order, the head of each participating agency shall
designate a senior official who is responsible for management or program
administration
to serve as a member of the Task Force. The official shall report
directly to the agency
head on the agency's activities under this order.
(3) The Assistant Secretary
for Elementary and Secondary Education of the
Department of Education and the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs
of the Department
of the Interior shall co-chair the Task Force.
(c) Interagency plan.
The Task Force shall, within 90 days of the date of this order,
develop a Federal interagency plan with recommendations identifying
initiatives,
strategies, and ideas for future interagency action supportive of the
goals of this order.
(d) Agency participation.
To the extent consistent with law and agency priorities, each
participating agency shall adopt and implement strategies to maximize
the availability of
the agency's education-related programs, activities, resources, information,
and technical
assistance to American Indian and Alaska Native students. In
keeping with the spirit of
the Executive Memorandum of April 29, 1994, on Government-to-Government
Relations
with Native American Tribal Governments and Executive Order 13084 of
May 14, 1998,
each participating agency shall consult with tribal governments on
their education-related
needs and priorities, and on how the agency can better accomplish the
goals of this order.
Within 6 months, each participating agency shall report to the Task
Force regarding the
strategies it has developed to ensure such consultation.
(e) Interagency resource
guide. The Task Force shall identify, within participating
Federal agencies, all education-related programs and resources that
support the goals of
this order. Within 12 months, the Task Force, in conjunction
with the Department of
Education, shall develop, publish, and widely distribute a guide that
describes those
programs and resources and how American Indians and Alaska Natives
can benefit from
them.
(f) Research. The Secretary
of Education, through the Office of Educational Research
and Improvement and the Office of Indian Education, and in consultation
with NACIE and
participating agencies, shall develop and implement a comprehensive
Federal research
agenda to:
(1) establish baseline data
on academic achievement and retention of American Indian
and Alaska Native students in order to monitor improvements;
(2) evaluate promising practices
used with those students; and
(3) evaluate the role of
native language and culture in the development of educational
strategies. Within 1 year, the Secretary of Education shall submit
the research agenda,
including proposed timelines, to the Task Force.
(g) Comprehensive Federal
Indian education policy.
(1) The Task Force shall,
within 2 years of the date of this order, develop a
comprehensive Federal Indian education policy to support the accomplishment
of the
goals of this order. The policy shall be designed to:
(A) improve Federal interagency
cooperation;
(B) promote intergovernmental
collaboration; and
(C) assist tribal governments
in meeting the unique educational needs of their children,
including the need to preserve, revitalize, and use native languages
and cultural traditions.
(2) In developing the policy,
the Task Force shall consider ideas in the Comprehensive
Federal Indian Education Policy Statement proposal developed by the
NIEA and the
NCAI.
(3) The Task Force shall
develop recommendations to implement the policy, including
ideas for future interagency action.
(4) As appropriate, participating
agencies may develop memoranda of agreement with
one another to enable and enhance the ability of tribes and schools
to provide, and to
coordinate the delivery of, Federal, tribal, State, and local resources
and services,
including social and health related services, to meet the educational
needs of American
Indian and Alaska Native students.
(h) Reports. The Task Force co-chairs shall submit the comprehensive
Federal
Indian education policy, and report annually on the agencies' activities,
accomplishments,
and progress toward meeting the goals of this order, to the Director
of the Office of
Management and Budget.
Sec. 3. Regional partnership forums. The Departments of
Education and the Interior, in
collaboration with the Task Force and Federal, tribal, State, and local
government
representatives, shall jointly convene, within 18 months, a series
of regional forums to
identify promising practices and approaches on how to share information,
provide
assistance to schools, develop partnerships, and coordinate intergovernmental
strategies
supportive of accomplishing the goals of this order. The Departments
of Education and
the Interior shall submit a report on the forums to the Task Force,
which may include
recommendations relating to intergovernmental relations.
Sec. 4. School pilot sites. The Departments of Education
and the Interior shall identify a
reasonable number of schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs
(BIA) and public
schools that can serve as a model for schools with American Indian
and Alaska Native
students, and provide them with comprehensive technical assistance
in support of the
goals of this order. A special team of technical assistance providers,
including Federal
staff, shall provide assistance to these schools. Special attention
shall be given, where
appropriate, to assistance in implementing comprehensive school reform
demonstration
programs that meet the criteria for those programs established by the
Departments of
Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies
Appropriations
Act, 1998 (Public Law 105-78), and to providing comprehensive service
delivery that
connects and uses diverse Federal agency resources. The team
shall disseminate effective and promising practices of the school pilot
sites to other local educational agencies. The team shall report
to the Task Force on its accomplishments and its recommendations for improving
technical support to local educational agencies and schools funded by the
BIA.
Sec. 5. Administration. The Department of Education shall
provide appropriate
administrative services and staff support to the Task Force.
With the consent of the
Department of Education, other participating agencies may provide administrative
support
to the Task Force, consistent with their statutory authority, and may
detail agency
employees to the Department of Education, to the extent permitted by
law.
Sec. 6. Termination. The Task Force established under section
2 of this order shall
terminate not later than 5 years from the date of this order.
Sec. 7. General provisions. This order is intended only
to improve the internal
management of the executive branch and is not intended to, and does
not, create any right
or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or equity
by a party against the
United States, its agencies or instrumentalities, its officers or employees,
or any other
person. This order is not intended to preclude, supersede, replace,
or otherwise dilute any
other Executive order relating to American Indian and Alaska Native
education.
/s/William J. Clinton
THE WHITE HOUSE,
August 6, 1998.