OCR Text |
Show THE ZEPHYROCTOBER 1995 PAGE 22 From San Jnan County... Around the Bend (Again) Ken By Sleight School Then in 1975, the Sinajini Court entered a permanent injunction against the the District pursuant to a consent agreement of the parties. The decree required that District build and maintain elementary and high schools on the reservation, provide Native American children with equal education opportunities, and implement a curriculum. bilingual-biculturIn the Consent Decree, the School District agreed to implement a bilingual-biculturschool year 1976-7program in kindergarten through grade three for the and for grades four through six for the 1977-7- 8 school year. The program was never implemented. Also in the Decree, the District agreed to "urge the County Commissioners to road between Montezuma Creek and Bluff at the construct a year round earliest practicable date." This was intended to facilitate transportation of students from Bluff to Montzuma Creek. The road was built, mostly with Navajo Trust Fund money. However since then, the District still persists in busing the Bluff students to the predominantly white school in Blanding, even though it is farther than Montezuma Creek. Years passed with little progress and much continued discrimination. Then in 1991, the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, issued the School District a citation for failure to have a bilingual-biculturprogram in place. The School District still failed to implement a program. And in 1992, Eric Swenson, the lawyer who began the 1974 law suit, rightly petitioned the court, in behalf of the Sinajini plaintiffs, to enforce its decree and require the District to meet its obligations to Native American students. The enforcement action seeks the following relief: al al 7; al INDIAN EDUCATION - SAN JUAN STYLE THE STRUGGLE San Juan County, in the southeastern portion of Utah, is geographically the largest county in the United States. Approximately 54 of the population of the county is Native American, mostly Navajo (Dine) with some Ute and Piute. The Navajo reservation is partly in San Juan County, but also extends into New Mexico and Arizona. San Juan County is a region plagued by poverty, one of the poorest counties in the whole United States. There is high unemployment, particularly among Native Americans. And there is much discrimination against the Indian population in the way educational services are handed out. Indian tribes across America arc having trouble getting governments to uphold their end of ratified treaties, court decisions, and decrees. Therein is the problem. But the situation in San Juan County, Utah is ludicrous to the extreme. It has become immoral and racist. Governments owe the Indians as many rights as are bestowed upon the white population. This includes educational opportunities. With the new austerity push by Congress, the academic picture looks even bleaker for San Juan County. With the financial burden upon the schools watch for more discrimination. The Sdn Juan School District now receives millions of dollars, won in a taxation lawsuit, in tax revenue directly or indirectly from the oil being pumped from Indian lands. In addition it receives substantial federal funds because of the Indian population, based in part on their obligation to construct schools on the reservation and provide Indian children with an education. Despite this substantial funding, educational opportunities for Native Americans are sadly deficient in San Juan County. The Native Americans arc an oppressed people and have been moved to the hind teat as far as education is concerned. The school board still plays cowboys and Indians: the cowboys win, the Indians lose. Back in 1974, there was high discrimination against Native American children attending San Juan County schools. There were no high school facilities in the southern portion of the county where most Native Americans resided. The few existing elementary schools were inadequate. Indian children were forced to bus long distances in order to attend schools in the north. Many other children were forced to leave home in order to attend school. Native American children who did attend district schools received an inadequate education. Ideally, it would be nice to resolve some of these things by talking through them instead of litigating. But what happens when things break down and nothing is accomplished? Things did break down. The ignored Indian community found talk came cheap. So that year, 1974, a class action law suit was filed against the San Juan School District in the United States District Court for Utah (Sinajini v. School Board) alleging that the San Juan County School District discriminated against Native American children attending San Juan schools. 1. That the School District be found in contempt of court for its failure to implement a bilingual-biculturprogram and that the School District be ordered to implement such a program immediately. 2. That the School District be ordered to provide an accounting to verify that it has complied with the Consent Decree's requirement of equivalent expenditures for all al students. 3. That the School District provide a high school at Navajo Mountain. 4. That the District be restrained from busing students from Bluff to Blanding. 5. That the District be required to recniit Navajo teachers. the Sinajini contempt action has developed into lengthy and costly which litigation apparently will not be resolved in the near future. On December 1, 1993, the federal judge (the Sinajini court) dismissed the Navajo Mountain claim on the grounds that it was not included in the original suit. It directed that some of the plaintiffs claims must be brought in separate law suits. So a separate suit was filed regarding that issue. In that suit, the School District took the incredible position that it had no legal duty to educate reservation Indians. As a result of this ruling, other law suits have and will continue to be filed in federal court. In March, 1994, the U.S. Office of Education determined that the San Juan School District is in violation of federal regulations and laws prohibiting racial discrimination in federally funded education programs, and accordingly requested that the United States Department of Justice take legal action against the District. In April, 1994, a Navajo family living in Monument Valley brought a law suit (Chee v. Board of Education) against the District alleging that the District was discriminating against Native American children who needed special education programs. The suit asks that the District be ordered to implement adequate special education programs for Indian children. Moreover, it appears that the San Juan District routinely classifies nearly all Navajos as "learning-disabled- " merely because of their English language difficulties. Several months ago. Judge Bruce Jenkins ruled that the School District, the United States Government, the State and the Tribe all haw a concurrent responsibility to provide education to reservation Indians. The Parties arc further directed to attempt to negotiate a compromise to provide education at Navajo Mountain. Since 1992, THE CONTEMPT FOR INDIAN EDUCATION The School District continues to discriminate against Native American children by not providing equal education opportunities for Indian children in the District. The situation docsn t seem to be improving. Some elementary students have to still travel 60 miles a day to attend school. There is a horrible education situation at Navajo Mountain. As age children there have no facility to attend, they have to board far from home in Arizona high-scho- OUR BREAKFASTS ARE PREPARED FROM SCRATCH, USING ONLY THE FINEST NATURAL INGREDIENTS.. HOWS THAT FOR A GRAND SLAM? MOAB'S FIRST & FINEST BAKERY SERVING ALL ORGANIC JUICES FRESH SMOOTHIES & slushies WELCOME FAT TIRE FESTIVAL! ol |