New Mexico pueblos’ control of schools could be costly

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) – Two New Mexico pueblos will control the curriculum at their schools but worry that authority may come at a great cost, tribal officials said.

Acoma and Santa Clara pueblos received federal funds earlier this week to establish their own coursework and school boards. The pueblos have long sought to design coursework that focuses on issues such as teaching indigenous languages. They, along with five other tribes nationwide, got grants from the Bureau of Indian Education, which is part of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. Most pueblo representatives hailed the move.

“For a long time, we did what the (Bureau of Indian Education) told us to do, and we had very little input,” said Jonathan Sims, tribal secretary for Acoma Pueblo.

Bureau Director Charles Roessel said the move reflects the Obama administration’s desire to make tribes self-reliant, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.

That self-reliance though will extend to other duties and expenses that the Bureau of Education previously covered, according to pueblo officials. The pueblos will have to cover areas such as transportation, food service and security. Tribal schools operated by the bureau get financial assistance for unexpected costs. But independently-operated schools won’t have a financial safety net.

“It’s building upon the idea of self-governance,” Santa Clara Pueblo Gov. J. Michael Chavarria said. “But we need a good financial plan.”

Chavarria said the tribe may consider other avenues such as donations from nonprofits.

Santa Clara, a pueblo a few miles south of Espanola, also has a federal preschool and a bureau-run K-6 school. The Santa Clara Tribal Council recently voted to cut ties with the Bureau of Indian Education. But that could change if the decision proves too costly, Chavarria said.

Acoma, which lies 50 miles west of Albuquerque, operates a federally-funded preschool and a bureau-operated K-6 school as well. Sims, the pueblo tribal secretary, said officials aren’t sure yet if they can truly operate one school without federal benefits.

“It’ll be a little bit of a hardship,” he said. “But the payoff is more than we could ever hope for.”

–––

Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, http://www.sfnewmexican.com