California lawmaker pushes bill to expose massive undercount of Indigenous students
The legislation requires schools to track tribal affiliations so Native American youth receive accurate recognition and dedicated funding
A California assemblyman introduced a bill to fix a data collection system that chronically undercounts Indigenous students in public schools.
According to reporting by SFGate, Assembly Bill 1581 requires the state to log the tribal affiliation of any student who identifies as American Indian, Alaska Native or multiracial.
Current state reporting rules push multiracial students into broad demographic categories. This creates an estimated 90% undercount of Native students statewide. Advocates say accurate numbers will help schools secure specific educational funding and build culturally relevant programs.
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