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| Photo courtesy George Hardeen -- Flanked by members of the Navajo Education Committee, Dine' Education Director Leland Leonard and Navajo Nation Council Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan, Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. signed the act in the historic Navajo Nation Council Chambers. |
Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. said the Navajo education reform was long overdue and the new legislation, Title 10 amendments, is a step toward greater sovereignty and independence.
''We can never forget who we are,'' Shirley said after passage of the bill. ''We are a sovereign nation and we need to conduct ourselves as such. These changes now head us in that direction, getting back to standing on our own two feet and being a true sovereign.''
Navajo Nation Council spokesman Karen Francis said the council voted 59 in favor of and 19 opposed to the legislation. Because it amends portions of Title 2 as well as Title 10, the legislation required a two-thirds vote of the council, or 59 votes, to pass.
The law creates an 11-member Navajo Board of Education and elevates the Division of Dine' Education to a Department of Dine' Education. Additionally, it calls for the hiring of a Navajo Superintendent of Schools, develops Navajo-specific standards for education and creates a database of information regarding Navajo student academic achievement.
The act will implement the teaching of Navajo language and culture in schools on the Navajo Nation on a voluntary basis.
Further, the Navajo Council's Education Committee said the amendments reorganize the Division of Dine' Education to operate more like a state department, which would be run by a superintendent with a Navajo Nation-wide board of education.
Shirley said the legislation would improve the education of Navajo children by requiring the implementation of standards that challenge and promote academic achievement, and increase accountability of school districts.
''As a government, we have a duty to provide the best quality education to our children,'' Shirley said, adding that education is the top priority of his tribal administration.
Leland Leonard, executive director of the Division of Dine' Education, said the new law will benefit students by improving accountability of schools.
''This is an exercise in sovereignty in Navajo law,'' Leonard said. ''We're looking out for Navajo children, and it is long overdue, as the president said. In education, we can achieve sovereignty, we can achieve self-sufficiency. It should remain a number one priority.''
Shirley said it is hoped the law will infuse education on Navajo land with Navajo language and culture.
''It gives me great honor and pleasure to sign this today,'' Shirley told members of the Navajo Nation Council as they began their last day of the council's summer session.
''These changes are long overdue and will benefit our Navajo students, schools and parents and strengthen our Navajo culture.''
Shirley said academic achievement tests show that Navajo children have not performed up to country-wide standards. This has resulted in a huge academic achievement gap between Navajo and non-Navajo students, he said.
Francis said Wallace Charley, vice chairman of the council's education committee, was a powerful advocate for the changes in the education law.
''This is to make our laws stronger,'' Charley said. ''The Navajo Nation can no longer accept the current state of our tribal education, nor should we be a defensive player regarding the educational services provided to our schools and students.''
The goal of the Education Committee, she said, was to amend the education laws of the Navajo Nation since they had not been revisited since 1984. The education law was last revised during the administration of Navajo President Peterson Zah.
The committee and the division worked together to develop legislation to strengthen the laws, with input from school board members, administrators, teachers, parents and students through work sessions and public hearings.
Education Committee Chairman Leonard Chee, Birdsprings/Leupp/Tolani Lake, and Vice Chairman Wallace Charley, Shiprock, brought the proposed Education Code amendments to the council during the winter session on Jan. 26. Then, the council passed the act during its summer session in July.
Francis said the Education Committee and the Division of Dine' Education took the extra time to educate the public on the amendments through presentations, informational booths and radio panel discussions.
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