Law & Courts News in Brief

Tribal Students Sue Feds Over School Conditions

By Corey Mitchell — January 17, 2017 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Nine children from an Arizona tribe are suing the federal government, alleging that they and other children in Bureau of Indian Education schools have been routinely denied the right to a basic education.

The children, ages six to 15, are members of the Havasupai tribe based in and around the Grand Canyon’s South Rim. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Arizona, names the Bureau of Indian Education and the U.S. Interior Department as defendants.

According to the lawsuit, the K-8 Havasupai Elementary School shuts down for weeks at a time because there aren’t enough teachers. The school also lacks textbooks and a functioning library, and only teaches students math and reading when open.

According to the complaint, Havasupai Elementary is among the worst-performing schools in the nation. The federal civil rights complaint, filed by the Native American Disability Law Center, also alleges that the school has failed to properly evaluate and educate students with disabilities, with some spending as little as three hours per week in school.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the January 18, 2017 edition of Education Week as Tribal Students Sue Feds Over School Conditions

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
Investing in Success: Leading a Culture of Safety and Support
Content provided by Boys Town
Assessment K-12 Essentials Forum Making Competency-Based Learning a Reality
Join this free virtual event to hear from educators and experts working to implement competency-based education.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Recruitment & Retention Webinar
Substitute Teacher Staffing Simplified: 5 Strategies for Success
Struggling to find quality substitute teachers? Join our webinar to learn key strategies to keep your classrooms covered and students learning.
Content provided by Kelly Education

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Law & Courts Court Battles and Presidential Election Have Big Implications for Title IX Regulation
A federal appeals court heard arguments about whether some provisions of the Title IX regulation should be allowed to go into wider effect.
4 min read
Image of a gavel
iStock/Getty
Law & Courts Top Affirmative Action Foe Has New Target: Scholarships for Aspiring Minority Teachers
The legal activist behind the U.S. Supreme Court college admissions decision has now sued over an Illinois minority scholarship program.
3 min read
A picture of a gavel on a target.
Bill Oxford/Getty
Law & Courts This State Requires Schools to Teach the Bible. Parents and Teachers Are Suing
Opponents of an Oklahoma directive that compels schools to teach the Bible are suing the state’s superintendent of public instruction.
4 min read
Image of a young boy pulling the bible off of a bookshelf.
D-Keine/E+
Law & Courts States Sue TikTok Over 'Addictive' Design Features. What That Means for Schools
The lawsuits are the newest fight targeting social media platforms' algorithms.
3 min read
The United States government laws on certain social media applications such as TikTok
iStock/Getty