Franken Calls For More Indian School Construction Funds
Today, U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) called on the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee to increase Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Education Construction spending by $240 million. Currently the total in the President’s 2011 Budget of the BIA Education Construction account is just $52.9 million, making this increase necessary to reverse the disastrous policies of the previous administration and restore funding back to 2003 levels.
“For years, Indian school construction has been woefully underfunded,” said Sen. Franken. “There is a $1.3 billion backlog in construction needs. This funding is a start, but we have a long way to go.”
The President’s 2011 Budget proposal currently calls for only $52.9 million in construction funds for the 60 schools on the BIA’s list of schools in poor condition. This represents a cut of $8.9 million from FY 2010 funding levels, only the latest in a long series of annual funding cuts to the BIA Education Construction budget.
In February, Sen. Franken, who serves on the Indian Affairs Committee, criticized the BIA for their meager budget appropriations for Indian schools and successfully got them to publish the list of schools that would be receiving funding. Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwJoFq8KMzs
Sen. Franken is joined by six of his colleagues, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).
The letter can be read here: http://franken.senate.gov/files/letter/100419_Indian_Schools.pdf
