Support and
Endorse a Qualified Native American Teacher
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by Marvin Cling on Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 10:07pm
Please call Mr. Ronald D. Jenkins, Superintendent of Maine Indian Education, at 207-454-2126 with Maine Indian Education and express your support for qualified tribal members to teach our tribal youth. If you prefer, fax your letter of support to Mr. Jenkins' attention at 207-454-3772. Mention that you know Kate is qualified and ask why she is being oppressed by an institution that should be supporting her efforts. Also, if you are a tribal member, talk to the school board members to pressure Mr. Jenkins for an endorsement. Let tribal council that they have the power to enforce Indian preference in hiring within the reservation including job applicants that Maine Indian Education considers for employment. It is not a racial or reverse discrimination issue. It is about self-determination, economic development, and a political matter. Too long have non-Natives dictated how tribal matters will be run. Maine Indian Education is dictating such a racial and oppressive act. Superintendent Ron Jenkins needs to re-consider why he does not endorse my wife, a qualified tribal member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point. Mr. Jenkins has verbally stated that he will never endorse my wife for hire at the school she wants to teach. With this mind, I think Mr. Jenkins' job should be re-advertised to allow a qualified Native American to run Maine Indian Education on values that support tribal rights and goals. The Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point and Indian Township along with the Penobscot Nation must pass a resolution that requires all entities that provide employment on their reservations or political boundaries must consider and hire qualified tribal members and Native Americans first. For Native American preference in hiring, experience is a side issue. As long as the tribal member has the minimal qualifications such as a teaching certificate, the tribal applicant has to be hired. Tribal employment rights ordinances have been upheld by state and federal courts when challenged by non-Natives. Some of these cases are thrown out because there are no legal grounds for a lawsuit to continue. Casino tribes have enacted laws to consider tribal members first to have more of their tribal members employed. The Navajo Nation and other federally recognized tribes have passed laws upholding Native American preference when hiring prospective applicants. In addition, many of these tribes have set up TERO (Tribal Employment Rights Ordinances) Offices to enforce and challenge any hiring where a qualified tribal member is not given an opportunity for employment. The Navajo Nation had to enact the law because Navajos were not being considered even though they were qualified. The US Supreme Court has upheld numerous challenges to the Native American preference in hiring on tribal lands. The tribal community has to request that the school board not renew contracts of non-native teachers and require teachers to reapply for their jobs. While this is happening, an all out effort has to be made to provide qualified Native Americans the opportunity to apply. This is what my community had to do to get rid of non-native teachers who could not teach in Navajo or instill the culture. The school said to the community that they would not be able to fill the open jobs. This was not the case. The community found that many qualified Native American teachers were simply not being considered and hired. School is an important social institution that should not be controlled or operated by people who have no respect for hiring Native Americans or its own tribal members. Maine Indian Education needs to hire and employ more Native Americans. Maine Indian Education is sending a message to its students and the tribal community that tribal members cannot become teachers. The community that I lived in had this problem with hiring only non-native people. The school now has more native teachers after the community pushed for it. School board should encourage hiring of tribal members who have earned their certification and degree. I am hopeful that my wife will gain employment as a teacher with the tribal school on the reservation. Most of the teachers at BRS are grandfathered and I bet they wouldn't be able to pass the PRAXIS exams that are required for teaching certification in Maine. Kate took the exams and passed them. I looked at some of the practice questions and I am glad that I am not required to pass such an exam for my profession. School board needs to demand that the teachers seek recertification and not hide behind the grandfather clause. Our kids deserve teachers that are certified based on current standards and regulations. Mr. Jenkins has endorsed several applicants who have not met the state's credentialing requirements. This is an outright oppressive tactic to keep a qualified tribal member from teaching at the school. Kate has gone to council with why she has not been hired despite Indian preference on several occasions. No support or action from council though. Elect decision makers that will fight for Native American preference in hiring done by schools, businesses, and any other entities that are located on the reservation. Kate has also addressed the school board and nothing came out of that meeting. If the present school board is unwilling, the community needs to let future school board members know that we want tribal members teaching our kids. The community is going to lose the younger folks and the next generation in terms of moving away and not having opportunities because tribal members who make the decisions at the board or council level are oppressive to their own members as well as other natives. My wife was informed that someone called Ron Jenkins about why he does not endorse Kate for hire at BRS. Mr. Jenkins claims that it is not up to him. If this is the case, the community needs to let the Pleasant Point school board know our support of Kate and other tribal members that have teaching certificates for endorsement and hire at BRS. Past school board members claim that they can't hire unless Jenkins endorses the applicant. So, someone is not keeping their story straight or there is a tyrant at work. Let school board members know they have the power to hire a qualified tribal member that is on the census. There has to be an end to oppressive acts toward educated tribal members that want a better life for their families and the community. The Passamaquoddy Tribe needs to enforce TERO and provide an office that will challenge employers on behalf of the qualified tribal member that is not being considered. Email or write a letter to Ronald D. Jenkins, Superintendent for Maine Indian Education, and Pleasant Point School Board requesting and supporting the hiring of qualified tribal members for employment at the three tribal reservation schools located at Pleasant Point, Indian Township, and Indian Island. Ronald D. Jenkins email is ronald.jenkins@bie.edu. Letters of support can be mailed to: Ronald D. Jenkins Contact information for Pleasant Point School Board Committee members: Pleasant
Point School Board Contact Information for Pleasant Point Tribal Council: Pleasant
Point Tribal Council
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My wife, Kate E. Cling (Newell), has been trying
to get a teaching job with Beatrice Rafferty
School (BRS), Pleasant Point, ME since she
received her BS Degree in Elementary Education
six years ago from University of Maine - Machias.
She has passed the required PRAXIS exams and met
the State of Maine's teaching credentialing
process.