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Kline pushes for funding to help Indian schools

March 25, 2015 at 9:53PM

Randall Kingbird, a junior at Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig High School, sits in the office of counselor Jay Malchow. The school was once a pole shed used for maintaining vehicles before being turned into a high school that some refer to it as a "tin can." (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

U.S. Rep. John Kline is asking for an almost $60 million increase in funding to the Bureau of Indian Affairs in as part of a recent push to end many of the unsafe conditions in Bureau of Indian Education schools across the country.

As the chairman for the Committee on Education and the Workforce, Kline's letter to the Committee on Appropriations requests $133.2 million for education construction in the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the next fiscal year — a $58.7 million increase from Fiscal Year 2015.

In his letter, Kline cites the Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School on the Leech Lake Band of the Ojibwe Reservation in northwestern Minnesota as a school that is emblematic of problems in Indian schools across the nation. As described in a four-part Star Tribune opinion series in the fall, the Bug school's list of grievances include a rodent infestation and a roof that caves during heavy snowfalls.

"The federal government has made a commitment to American Indian students and families to provide educational opportunities in a manner that preserves their culture, language, and traditions," Kline said in a release. "Unfortunately, we are failing to meet that commitment."

His push to the appropriations committee is on the heels of a letter he sent last month to the director of the Bureau of Indian Education, asking the bureau what it was doing to address issues surrounding Indian schools.

The Leech Lake Reservation school — known as the Bug school — has seen legislative mentions in recent weeks that point to new waves of efforts to fix it soon. At the end of February, the Committee on Appropriations' subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies held a hearing to discuss the budget proposal for Indian Affairs and Indian Education, where ranking member U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum cited the Bug school. Part of the $58.7 million increase is $11.9 million "to address major facility repair needs at schools like the Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig school," the Interior budget cites in its report.

Kline will hold a hearing next month to take a further look into Indian schools. Prior to the hearing, he will visit the Bug school.