“With adequate funding, students and educators can have access to quality education and tools that reflect their heritage while equipping them with the skills necessary for future success,” Rosita Ḵaaháni Worl, Sealaska Heritage Institute president, told a congressional oversight hearing on Native American education in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

Worl, a leader on Alaska Native issues for decades, traveled from Juneau to explain the importance of the SHI educational programs Tlingit Culture and Language Literacy (TCLL) and Baby Raven Reads (BRR). The programs would likely lose funding if the U.S. Department of Education is abolished.

Worl said Alaska has seen educational improvements due to the direct engagement of Native entities and parents that include cultural values and practices in education.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and vice chair U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaiʻi) led the meeting titled “Native American Education – Examining Federal Programs at the U.S. Department of Education.”

“This Department of Ed money has flexibilities associated with it that allow tribes, Native organizations, parents, communities, and families input into the development and the delivery of Indian education programs,” Murkowski said.

But President Donald Trump signed an executive order to dismantle the DOE on March 20. An Act of Congress would be required to eliminate the department, which was created in 1979 largely to ensure equal access for students.

Murkowski said the hearing was necessary because Alaska has no Bureau of Indian Affairs schools, meaning Indigenous students attend public schools and institutions funded in part by the federal government. Alaska depends on DOE to fund more than 20% of school districts’ costs.

Worl said Alaska Natives have experienced achievement gaps compared to non-Native students. Reading scores for fourth-grade and eighth-grade Native students across the country are 14-20 points below average compared to all students.

The TCLL and Baby Raven Reads programs emphasize revitalization of Alaska Native languages, which are at a crucial juncture, according to a 2024 call to action by the Alaska Native Languages Preservation and Advisory Council.

“The fiscal crisis that the state of Alaska has been experiencing has translated into minimal funding for Native education, making federal funding even more important,” Worl said. “Despite these challenges, we can confidently state that through our culture-based programs that we have integrated into schools with DOE funding, we have witnessed measurable educational achievement among Native students, as well as improvements in their social and emotional well-being.”

Worl said Alaska Native students who participated in TCLL had better scores than Native students who did not attend the cultural program in the Juneau School District. As of September 2024, Native literacy scores are higher than non-Native scores in the district, Worl said.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska, left) and Sealaska Heritage Institute president Rosita Ḵaaháni Worl (right) stand together in Washington, D.C. Murkowski holds books from the Baby Raven Reads series. (Photo courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute)

According to a McKinley Research Group study, Alaska Native children participating in the BRR program have gained 20% to 39% in phonetic knowledge, awareness of print concepts, and knowledge of letters and symbols, while scores for all other students have remained relatively static.

“We are making progress,” Worl said. “We know from our data and studies, and we would lose that if the Department of Education went away.”

She also attributed the academic success of Alaska Native students to the Alaska Native Education program, which is housed under the DOE.

“However, we are aware that the level of ANEP funding is not sufficient to allow more Native entities to participate in ANEP,” she said. “Because of the significant impact in Alaska, SHI has recommended an increase in the 2026 ANEP appropriation to $70 million.”

Worl said Alaska Native education is essential for cultural survival and persistence. BRR features books focused on the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures. Worl said the program not only provides Alaska Native children with early literacy and language development, but also gives them representation.

“They didn’t see themselves,” she said. “They didn’t see brown kids, they didn’t see their lifestyles, picking berries, going fishing, and things like that. Baby Raven Reads, I think, is a really good example of Native programming.”

Rosita Ḵaaháni Worl, president of Sealaska Heritage Institute, smiles during the Grand Entrance of Celebration in Juneau on June 5, 2024. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

Murkowski asked Worl if school control should be returned to the states, an action that would eliminate direct funding to school districts.

Worl echoed other witnesses’ thoughts that students who need additional support, such as rural Alaskans, could fall through the cracks without federal oversight. She also noted the complex history between the state of Alaska and Indigenous people. Alaska Native culture was suppressed when schools were introduced in the late 1800s. This continued until self-determination became the government’s policy, followed by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 1971.

“They then began to see measures of improvement in Native education,” she said. “But it was really when we started to get federal funds for Native education that we saw some real progress in our educational achievement of Native students.”

Murkowski said it is possible other federal agencies could take over DOE’s major responsibilities and asked witnesses what they thought of programs that could avoid being eliminated by moving elsewhere.

“I would be concerned if it were shifted somewhere else, more than likely, that’s not their expertise,” Worl replied. “There would be a lag, there would be a period where relationships would have to be established, where they would have to gain the knowledge about the complexity and importance of education.”

That possible lag would complicate already existing funding delays to school districts that receive impact aid. The program supports local school districts with concentrations of children who reside on Indian lands, military bases, in low-rent housing, and other federal properties, have parents in the uniformed services, or who are employed on eligible federal properties. It’s not forward-funded, meaning annual appropriations are required so school districts can receive their funds.

“These school districts have waited almost an entire school year to receive current-year funds,” said Nicole Russell, executive director of the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools in Washington, D.C.

Russell said schools that heavily rely on federal funds like federally impacted school districts, impact aid, and other federal funding programs, are facing “dire circumstances” and need funds as quickly as possible.

Rosita Ḵaaháni Worl, president of Sealaska Heritage Institute, testifies during a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (Screenshot from Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hearing)

While the president cannot eliminate DOE without an Act of Congress, Trump has threatened to withhold federal assistance from public schools that do not eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion. A memo sent to state officials nationwide on Thursday requires confirmation within 10 days that schools comply with the administration’s anti-DEI policies.

Trump warned schools and colleges they could lose federal money over “race-based preferences,” which compelled the University of Alaska Board of Regents to remove all DEI references from print and online materials on Feb. 21. Students in Indigenous studies at the University of Alaska Southeast have expressed concern over the program’s future.

According to a fiscal year 2026 presentation, federal revenue makes up 0.41% of the Juneau School District budget.

In an email to the Empire, Hannah Ray, communications director for the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, said Murkowski values the information Worl and other witnesses provide.

“She uses not only their written testimony, but also the answers they provide members who question them, to help shape her discussions with colleagues and policy decisions moving forward,” she wrote. “The witnesses today provided helpful context on the various programs that support Native students, families, and schools through department of ed.”

Beyond serving as public record and supplementing conversations, senators and their staff may use written testimony and their discussions during the hearing to help shape future legislation, conduct oversight of agency activities, or formulate policy recommendations. Testimony and information from hearings can be used to build support for or against policies.

A recording of the hearing is available on indian.senate.gov.

• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz.garrett@juneauempire.com or (907) 723-9356.