- ``(1) the Federal Government has a special responsibility to ensure that educational programs for all American Indian and Alaska Native children and adults--
- ``(A) are based on high-quality, internationally competitive content standards and student performance standards and build on Indian culture and the Indian community;
- ``(B) assist local educational agencies, Indian tribes, and other entities and individuals in providing Indian students the opportunity to achieve such standards; and
- ``(C) meet the special educational and culturally related academic needs of American Indian and Alaska Native students;
- ``(B) assist local educational agencies, Indian tribes, and other entities and individuals in providing Indian students the opportunity to achieve such standards; and
- ``(2) since the date of enactment of the initial Indian Education Act in 1972, the level of involvement of Indian parents in the planning, development, and implementation of educational programs that affect such parents and their children has increased significantly, and schools should continue to foster such involvement;
- ``(3) although the number of Indian teachers, administrators, and university professors has increased since 1972, teacher training programs are not recruiting, training, or retraining a sufficient number of Indian individuals as educators to meet the needs of a growing Indian student population in elementary, secondary, vocational, adult, and higher education;
- ``(4) the dropout rate for Indian students is unacceptably high, for example, 9 percent of Indian students who were eighth graders in 1988 had already dropped out of school by 1990;
- ``(5) during the period from 1980 to 1990, the percentage of Indian individuals living at or below the poverty level increased from 24 percent to 31 percent, and the readiness of Indian children to learn is hampered by the high incidence of poverty, unemployment, and health problems among Indian children and their families; and
- ``(6) research related specifically to the education of Indian children and adults is very limited, and much of the research is of poor quality or is focused on limited local or regional issues.
- ``(3) although the number of Indian teachers, administrators, and university professors has increased since 1972, teacher training programs are not recruiting, training, or retraining a sufficient number of Indian individuals as educators to meet the needs of a growing Indian student population in elementary, secondary, vocational, adult, and higher education;
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SEC. 8014. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
SEC. 9102. PURPOSE.