Education Department transfers Native programs to Interior without tribal consultation

The U.S. Department of Education is transferring 24 programs that serve Indian Country to the Department of the Interior, according to MPR. The move includes Native-specific programs such as Title VI, Native Language programming and tribal college initiatives.

The American Indian Higher Education Consortium said the changes will significantly affect the nation’s education system, and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe said it was not contacted before the restructuring. “This move reflects a troubling return to historical patterns of federal control over Native education,” Chairman Steven Sitting Bear said in a Nov. 21 statement.