Meeting student needs presents a challenge

Ute students were failing in Uintah Basin public schools, so the tribe chartered its own school on the reservation.

Kathleen Chegup is now the principal of Uintah River High School in Fort Duchesne. About 55 students attend the school, which is 96 percent American Indian students. Today, more students are graduating, and more are going on to college, Chegup said.

The school has smaller class sizes, does lots of reading programs and incorporates native culture into the curriculum. "It is difficult, and there are challenges, but we are making progress for these kids," she said.

The future of young people in this population lies in being able to live and flourish on the reservation, Huntsman said.

"Implicit in that is education, and it is not going to be done with traditional bricks and mortar," the governor said.

So he is supporting various new efforts to bring technology and distance learning to the state's reservations.

After last winter's legislative session, Huntsman vetoed HB151, which would have allowed schools to charge students taking concurrent enrollment classes. The governor said the bill would have effectively limited the opportunity for many rural and American Indian students.

This summer, the Navajo Nation signed an agreement with Certiport, an American Fork technology company, to teach students computer, Internet and other technology skills. The company will operate in 110 community centers on the Navajo reservation.

Lagging behind

Still, the gravity of an education crisis among Indian youths looms.

In a presentation to school and state officials, Cuch says Indian student dropout rates in rural areas range from 60 to 80 percent.

"The current state of education for Indian children is appalling," he wrote in the presentation. "They are consistently at the bottom of every standardized test given to Utah's children."

Indeed, American Indian third- and fifth-graders in Utah are among the lowest achievers, according to the 2006 Iowa Tests of Basic Skills the state uses to measure student achievement.

But eighth- and 11th-graders record lower scores than all ethnic and socioeconomic groups except children with learning disabilities.

In meetings with the Navajo Nation this summer, Indian leaders told Huntsman they need the state's help to improve academics.

"It's sad to see so many Utah Navajos not graduate or pass the (Utah basic skills test)," said Mark Maryboy, a former San Juan County commissioner and Navajo Nation Council delegate.

The governor offered support. "That's an appropriate role for us," he said.