Education board proposal slammed
By Jason Begay
Navajo Times
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WINDOW ROCK, April 10, 2008
The proposal to strip power from the Navajo Nation Board of Education faced much scrutiny by the Ethic and Rules Committee, but will move on to the full council later this month.The committee, which mostly criticized the bill during its regular meeting April 4, voted to table the issue.
However, that counts as a committee action, freeing the bill to be on the agenda of the tribal council's spring session, scheduled April 21-25.
"This legislation would take all the power away from the board," said Roscoe D. Smith (Crystal/Red Lake/Sawmill), E&R committee vice chair. "What's the purpose of the board of education if we do that?"
The bill, sponsored by Education Committee chair Andy Ayze (Chinle) would take the board's power to oversee the Department of Diné Education and to hire and fire the superintendent of education. Those powers would be distributed to the DODE, the tribal president and the Education Committee.
The bill comes after months of stalemate within the board after it fired Tommy Lewis, the tribe's first superintendent, in August. Since then, the board has been at odds, neglecting its work to establish the DODE, committee members claim.
The Education Committee passed the bill unanimously with no discussion. However, the Ethics and Rules committee members had plenty to say.
"If the board of education don't want to do things then they are held responsible," said Joe M. Lee (Chichiltah). "We don't have to go in there."
Smith agreed and said that, considering more than half of the board members are presidential appointees, President Joe Shirley Jr. should do more to ensure they are effective.
Six members of the school board attended the meeting, sitting in the front row, occasionally shaking their heads during the presentation.
Board Chairman Jimmy C. Begay said in an interview afterwards that the board strongly disagreed with the committee, particularly regarding the accusation that it was not working during the past eight months.
The tribal school board has established a working relationship with the state education departments in Arizona and New Mexico, as is required by tribal code, Begay said. The council overhauled the tribal education code in 2005, establishing a board of education to oversee the reforms.
However, Begay said the board is faced with several issues that slow progress. It's going to take time and more funding, he said.
For one, the committee has never clearly defined the board's roles and responsibilities and how they would complement those of the committee, Begay said. Overall, he said the board needs more time to develop the tribe's education plan.
"This is a big test," Begay said. "It's not going to take overnight. It's going to take time to develop these programs."
Ironically, this is the same argument made by Lewis, a 30-year education veteran who helped establish Navajo Community College (now Diné College), when the board fired him less than a year after it hired him.
Begay, who voted against removing Lewis, said the education code could not likely be revised with a single bill. The committee consulted a multitude of people for input during the 2005 revision, he said.
In addition, if Ayze's bill were to pass, what would become of the board members elected by the public? he asked.
"What are the constituents out there saying?" he said.
Ayze said Begay's opposition to the bill came as a surprise.
"He was the main person who yelled 'Help,'" Ayze said. "That was when we intervened. He said the board was not talking, that nothing was ever happening."
Still, Begay said, should the council defeat the bill, he is willing to work with the Education Committee.
"We'll just have to get together and put all of our differences on the table," he said. "We'll have to clearly define our roles and responsibilities."