Separate and unequal: Feds show interest but no urgency for replacing Indian schools

Neither U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell nor Bureau of Indian Education Director Charles (Monty) Roessel come across as uncaring when asked about the plight of BIE schools. In fact, their visits to these facilities have been a welcome change for an agency long viewed as out-of-touch.

But Jewell and Roessel lack urgency and the insight that replacing crumbling schools is a smart place to dig into the daunting task of addressing Indian education's deep woes. Modern facilities alone won't address all of the challenges facing BIE schools, but they would help.

In response to an editorial writer's questions, Jewell and Roessel would not say when the agency would seek a substantial replacement school funding boost or have a detailed plan to rebuild or renovate broken-down BIE schools. Instead, they repeatedly pointed to a BIE "study group" report issued in June as progress. William Mendoza, executive director of the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education, did the same.

While there are good ideas in the "Blueprint for Reform Implementation" — such as replicating the Department of Defense's construction surge and seeking more money for BIE school operations — these ideas were outlined with more clarity in a 2011 report on BIE schools called "Broken Schools, Broken Promises.''

A report that tepidly repeats the same recommendations three years later is not progress, especially when there's no timeline in place. School construction isn't even the focus of the rambling, jargon-filled 2014 report. It mainly argues for a sweeping reorganization of BIE, giving the impression that new schools will happen at some point after the agency has become an "agile organizational environment."

Jewell has mandated reforms. Given the glacial pace of change in Washington, it's hard to imagine anything will change soon.