More than 200 Cherokee students participated in cultural, educational and recreational activities as part of the 2018 Camp Cherokee in Welling, Oklahoma, in July. The Cherokee Nation's Johnson O’Malley Program coordinates the annual camp. Photo: Anadisgoi

Education | National | Politics | Trust

Indian student count finally being updated for the modern era

Monday, November 4, 2019

By Acee Agoyo

• BIE.EDU: Johnson-O’Malley Modernization Act 2019 Preliminary Report
• CONGRESS.GOV: S.943, the Johnson-O’Malley Supplemental Indian Education Program Modernization Act

Slowly but surely, the Trump administration is working to modernize the popular Johnson O'Malley Program for Indian students.

The program helps pay for a wide range of initiatives, from school supplies and learning competitions to field trips and powwows, for Indian students across the nation. But funding levels have been stuck at 1995, despite rises in costs and growth in tribal populations.

Thanks to a new federal law that tribes, Indian educators and supporters in Congress fought for, the situation is finally changing. The Johnson-O’Malley Supplemental Indian Education Program Modernization Act requires the Bureau of Indian Affairs to update the student count for the modern era.

"An accurate count of eligible students is the first critical step to advocating for adequate JOM funding across the country," Marita Hinds, a citizen of the Pueblo of Tesuque who serves as president of the National Indian Education Association, said during the National Congress of American Indians 76th annual convention last month.

Marita Hinds, president of the National Indian Education Association, addresses the National Congress of American Indians 76th annual convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on October 24, 2019. Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Consultation under the new law began a few months ago and already it's proven to be a complex affair. A preliminary report released by the Bureau of Indian Education last week shows just how much has changed since 1995, when the student count was frozen at 271,884 American Indians and Alaska Natives.

"Braveheart won Best Picture that year, the Macarena went viral and Amazon sold its first book," Sen. Steve Daines (R-Montana) once said of the outdated numbers during consideration of the JOM bill he co-sponsored during the last session of Congress. (To find out what was happening in 1995, Daines said he relied on the search engine Google, which didn't even exist at the time.)

Popular culture isn't the only new data point. According to the new document, announced to the public last week, the Indian student population, unsurprisingly, has grown significantly in the last two decades.

The highest estimates come from the U.S. Census Bureau, the federal agency currently preparing for the 2020 Census. According to the report, anywhere from 581,241 to 600,217 American Indian and Alaska Native students are enrolled from preschool to grade 12 across the nation.

Wilson War Ponies – 2019 Elementary Wilbur Chebon Gouge Honors Team winners!
Posted by Muscogee Creek Nation Johnson O' Malley Program on Friday, March 15, 2019

Figures from the U.S. Department of Education aren't too far behind. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the clearinghouse for public school data, between 502,152 and 570,825 American Indians and Alaska Natives could end up in the JOM student count.

Finally, the BIE itself has some numbers to share but the report warns of incomplete information. By contacting entities that received JOM funds, the agency counted 341,126 American Indian and Alaska Native students in 2014.

The BIE is doing the same this year and so far has counted 200,000 students. The figure is low because not every recipient of JOM funds, whether it be a state government, a public school district or a tribe, has not provided information for the count.

"The diversity of data sources and their associated methods for estimating numbers of American Indian and Alaska Native students introduces a great deal of complexity when considering combining or using multiple data sources together. " the preliminary report states.

Despite the difficult task, the report presents a recommendation to Indian Country. According to the BIE, the JOM student count should be based on the higher estimate from the National Center for Education Statistics, or 570,825 students.

"The U.S. Department of Education-National Center for Education Statistics is based on actual reported numbers from schools across the nation," the report reads.

For the last few fiscal years, Congress has provided less than $15 million for JOM, according to BIA budget data and testimony from the National Johnson-O'Malley Association, one of the many advocates for the modernization law. A student count of 570,825, though lower than the U.S. Census Bureau estimates, could lead to a significant increase in funding for the program.

In contrast, the JOM contractor responses are believed to be unreliable, the report states. So even if the BIE manages to get data from every single entity, it's likely to be a significant undercount, according to the report.

"The Bureau of Indian Education believes the number of eligible Indian students is much higher than current contractor data due to low response rates from contractors in the field and the short turnaround time for reporting," the document states.

Mark Cruz, Deputy Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs for Policy & Economic Development, @Interior, visited #CherokeeNation to see economic development projects, tour @SeqActivities & the Cherokee Immersion School, & participate in a tribal gathering to discuss JOM modernization. pic.twitter.com/ij5JCdKhM5
— CherokeeNation (@CherokeeNation) July 19, 2019

So what's next? Indian Country has until December 30 to provide comments about the preliminary report, according to an October 29 notice in the Federal Register.

The December 30 deadline is close to the December 31 deadline imposed by Congress on the BIE. A "final" report is supposed to be due on the latter date.

In addition to engaging in consultations for an update student count, the Trump administration has proposed a new JOM rule. The comment period closed on August 26. A final rule hasn't been released.

Federal Register Notices

Johnson-O'Malley Program; Preliminary Report (October 29, 2019)
Education Contracts Under Johnson-O'Malley Act (June 27, 2019)
Johnson-O'Malley Program (May 22, 2019)