wa-law.org > bill > 2023-24 > HB 1879 > Original Bill
The legislature recognizes the tireless and visionary efforts of John McCoy to support student and educator learning about the history, culture, and government of federally recognized Indian tribes in the Pacific Northwest.
In 2005, John McCoy, whose traditional name in Lushootseed is lulilaš, sponsored Substitute House Bill No. 1495. The enacted legislation began the statewide process of incorporating information about tribal history, culture, and government into social studies courses in which Washington or United States history is taught. The resulting instructional materials have become known as the since time immemorial curriculum.
The legislature, therefore, intends to honor the efforts of John McCoy by naming the curriculum used to support his vision as the John McCoy (lulilaš) since time immemorial curriculum.
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Beginning July 24, 2015, when a school district board of directors reviews or adopts its social studies curriculum, it shall incorporate curricula about the history, culture, and government of the nearest federally recognized Indian tribe or tribes, so that students learn about the unique heritage and experience of their closest neighbors.
School districts shall meet the requirements of this section by using the John McCoy (lulilaš) since time immemorial curriculum developed and made available free of charge by the office of the superintendent of public instruction and may modify that curriculum in order to incorporate elements that have a regionally specific focus or to incorporate the curriculum into existing curricular materials.
As they conduct regularly scheduled reviews and revisions of their social studies and history curricula, school districts shall collaborate with any federally recognized Indian tribe within their district, and with neighboring Indian tribes, to incorporate expanded and improved curricular materials about Indian tribes, and to create programs of classroom and community cultural exchanges.
School districts shall collaborate with the office of the superintendent of public instruction on curricular areas regarding tribal government and history that are statewide in nature, such as the concept of tribal sovereignty and the history of federal policy towards federally recognized Indian tribes. The program of Indian education within the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall help local school districts identify federally recognized Indian tribes whose reservations are in whole or in part within the boundaries of the district and/or those that are nearest to the school district.
The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall provide state leadership for the integration of environmental and sustainability content with curriculum, instruction, and assessment.
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Subject to funds appropriated for this specific purpose, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall contract on a competitive basis with a Washington state-based qualified 501(c)(3) nonprofit community-based organization to integrate the state learning standards in English language arts, mathematics, and science with outdoor field studies and project-based and work-based learning opportunities aligned with the environmental, natural resources, and agricultural sectors.
The selected Washington state nonprofit organization must work collaboratively with the office of the superintendent of public instruction and educational service districts to:
Build systemic programming that connects administrators, school boards, and communities to support teacher practice and student opportunities for the strengthened delivery of environmental and sustainability education;
Support K-12 educators to teach students integrated, equitable, locally relevant, real-world environmental science and engineering outdoors, aligned to Washington science and environmental and sustainability education standards, and provide opportunities to engage students in renewable natural resource career awareness; and
Deliver learning materials, opportunities, and resources including, but not limited to:
(A) Providing opportunities outside the classroom to connect transdisciplinary content, concepts, and skills in the context of the local community;
(B) Encouraging application of critical and creative thinking skills to identify and analyze issues, seek answers, and engineer solutions;
(C) Creating community-connected, local opportunities to engage students in stewardship projects that enhance their interest in sustaining the ecosystem and respecting natural resources;
(D) Providing work-based learning opportunities for careers in the environmental science and engineering, natural resources, sustainability, renewable energy, agriculture, and outdoor recreation sectors and build skills for completion of industry recognized certifications; and
(E) Providing models for integrating the John McCoy (lulilaš) since time immemorial curriculum in teaching materials so that students learn the unique heritage, history, culture, and government of the nearest federally recognized Indian tribe or tribes.
c. Priority focus must be given to schools that have been identified for improvement through the Washington school improvement framework and communities historically underserved by science education. These communities can include, but are not limited to, tribal nations including tribal compact schools, migrant students, schools with high free and reduced-price lunch populations, rural and remote schools, students in alternative learning environments, students of color, English language learner students, and students receiving special education services.
For the purposes of this section, a "qualified 501(c)(3) nonprofit community-based organization" means a nonprofit organization physically located in Washington state :
That has multiple years of experience collaborating with school districts across the state to provide high quality professional development to kindergarten through twelfth grade educators to teach students real-world environmental science and engineering outside the classroom;
Whose materials and instructional practices align with Washington's environmental and sustainability learning standards and the Washington state learning standards, including the common core standards for mathematics and English language arts;
Whose materials and instructional practices emphasize the next generation science standards to support local, relevant, and field-based learning experiences; and
That delivers project-based learning materials and resources that incorporate career connections to local businesses and community-based organizations, contain professional development support for classroom teachers, have measurable assessment objectives, and have demonstrated community support.
The legislature finds that:
American Indian and Alaska Native students make up 2.5 percent of the total student population in the state and twenty-five percent or more of the student population in fifty-seven schools across the state.
American Indian students in Washington have the highest annual dropout rate at 9.5 percent, compared to 4.6 percent of all students in each of grades nine through twelve. Of the students expected to graduate in 2010 because they entered the ninth grade in 2006, the American Indian on-time graduation rate was only fifty-eight percent, compared to 76.5 percent of all students.
The teaching of American Indian language, culture, and history is important to American Indian people and critical to the educational attainment and achievement of American Indian children.
The state-tribal education compacts authorized under this chapter reaffirm the state's important commitment to government-to-government relationships with the tribes that has been recognized by proclamation, and in the centennial accord and the millennium agreement. These state-tribal education compacts build upon the efforts highlighted by the office of the superintendent of public instruction in its 2012 Centennial Accord Agency Highlights, including: The John McCoy (lulilaš) Since Time Immemorial (STI): Tribal Sovereignty in Washington State Curriculum Project that imbeds the history surrounding sovereignty and intergovernmental responsibilities into this state's classrooms; the agency's regular meetings with the superintendents of the seven current tribal schools, as well as the federal bureau of Indian education representatives at the regional and national level on issues relating to student academic achievement, accessing of funding for tribal schools, and connecting tribal schools to the K-20 network; and the recent establishment, in statute, of the office of native education within the office of the superintendent of public instruction.
School funding should honor tribal sovereignty and reflect the government-to-government relationship between the state and the tribes, however the current structure that requires negotiation of an interlocal agreement between a school district and a tribal school ignores tribal sovereignty and results in a siphoning of funds for administration that could be better used for teaching and learning.
The legislature further finds that:
There is a preparation gap among entering kindergartners with many children, especially those from low-income homes, arriving at kindergarten without the knowledge, skills, and good health necessary to succeed in school;
Upon entry into the K-12 school system, the educational opportunity gap becomes more evident, with children of color and from low-income homes having lower scores on math, reading, and writing standardized tests, as well as lower graduation rates and higher rates of dropping out of school; and
Comprehensive, culturally competent early learning and greater collaboration between the early learning and K-12 school systems will ensure appropriate connections and smoother transitions for children, and help eliminate or bridge gaps that might otherwise develop.
In light of these findings, it is the intent and purpose of the legislature to authorize the superintendent of public instruction to enter into state-tribal education compacts.
This act shall be known and cited as the John McCoy (lulilaš) memorial tribal history, culture, and government act.