WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall today asked Senate leaders to continue educational support for two of the country's tribal colleges - one in New Mexico.
A bill that passed the House of Representatives to fund the remainder of fiscal year 2011 would make drastic cuts to the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. Two tribally controlled colleges, Navajo Technical College (NTC) in Crownpoint and United Tribes Technical College (UTTC) have been the successful applicants for this program.
In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the New Mexico senators pointed out that the two colleges are unique in that they do not receive assistance under the Tribally Controlled College and University Assistance Act like other tribal colleges, and thus rely heavily on the Perkins program grant as a core source of funding.
"Eliminating these funds would cause the colleges to dramatically scale back or even close their doors. In fact, 50 percent of NTC's funding and 46 percent of UTTC's funding comes from this source. These institutions are not part of state higher education systems and do not benefit from state-appropriated college funds. As a start, NTC would lose 51 employees under the current proposal. The proposed cuts pose a similar danger to UTTC. Moreover, without predictable funding, the colleges could lose their accreditation, hindering their ability to obtain other federal funds (including Pell Grants) and jeopardizing a stable learning environment for faculty and students," the Senators wrote.
"UTTC and NTC may seem small, but their mission - to train a workforce for Indian communities that have faced devastating poverty for decades - is extremely important to our states and all of Indian Country. Defunding the Section 117 Perkins program dims the hope in tribal communities that education is a pathway out of poverty and hardship. We have a solemn trust responsibility to support these schools, which have been steadily increasing their enrollment and expanding their curricula to keep up with our changing economy. We urge you to continue funding this the Section 117 program at the FY 2010 level of $8.162 million to ensure that UTTC and NTC can continue to train Native American students for leadership roles in their communities," the letter states.
Senator Daniel Inouye, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee - which is tasked with writing spending bills -- today unveiled a measure that funds the Perkins program. It is unclear whether this proposal will be approved by Congress.
