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Finance committee approves compact allowing tribes to run language-and-culture schools
Summary
Senate Bill 113 would allow the public education department to enter government-to-government compacts with tribes to establish language-and-culture schools that use indigenous languages as primary instruction. Supporters said the approach responds to community needs; the committee gave the bill a due-pass recommendation, 8–0.
Senate Bill 113 authorizes the Public Education Department to enter into compacts with Indian nations, tribes and pueblos to establish language-and-culture schools rooted in tribal pedagogy and indigenous languages.
Supporters, including tribal leaders and tribal education directors, told the Finance Committee the bill reflects years of local work to develop immersion programs and teacher-training pathways. Kevin Shindo, education director for the Pueblo of Jemez, described the work since 2012 to convert early childhood programs to full immersion and to develop teacher licensure pilots in partnership with the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo. He said the tribe’s work showed “we want to define our own standards, our own assessments, and evaluations based on the pedagogy, the strategies, and the approaches that we're gonna use in implementing our language and culture based schools.”
Speakers from Tesuque, Acoma and Santa Ana Pueblo and tribal representatives said compacts respect tribal sovereignty and permit education models that the state’s charter law and standard assessments do not readily accommodate. Committee members asked about accountability, English-language transition planning and funding. Testifiers said Impact Aid follows students and that the bill’s compact framework would allow negotiated alternative assessments and accountability measures; proponents described existing technical-assistance work to help tribes create standards and teacher preparation programs.
The committee gave SB 113 a unanimous due-pass recommendation, 8–0.
Actions at the meeting: due-pass recommendation (8–0). The bill exempts qualifying compact schools from certain state statutes and allows negotiated accountability arrangements in compacts.
What’s next: The bill advances with unanimous committee support; stakeholders highlighted teacher licensure, technical assistance centers and negotiated accountability as key implementation tasks.
