Alternate Links: Native Voice One |
NAC
A new report by the New Mexico Department of Justice says Native students are disciplined more harshly and miss more school days from suspensions than other students at Gallup-McKinley County Schools.
The school district, located in western New Mexico, includes the Navajo Nation and the Pueblo of Zuni. It has a majority Navajo student population and was the focus of a 2023 news investigation that prompted calls for further investigations into the treatment of Native students.
Meanwhile in South Dakota, education leaders are looking into the state’s licensing exams after research shows a disproportionately low number of Native teacher candidates pass the costly exam. Native teachers are in short supply in the state and Native education advocates say that streamlining licensing requirements could be barrier.
Dr. Wendy Greyeyes (Diné), chair of the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission and assistant professor of Native American Studies at the University of New Mexico
Kevin Mitchell (Diné), president of the Gallup-McKinley County Schools Board of Education in New Mexico
Priscilla Benally (Diné), vice president of the Gallup-McKinley County Schools Board of Education in New Mexico
Dr. Sherry Johnson (Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate), education director for the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate in South Dakota
