Heitkamp vows to fight for funding of Native education

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) called for more federal funding to improve the education of Native American children.

“If we truly want our children to flourish, we need to focus on being good stewards of their education,” Heitkamp said Monday. “Our young and native children in particular are depending on us, and our ability to be responsible caretakers — and we can’t let them down.”

{mosads}Heitkamp released the statement as the administration announced more than $4 million in federal loans would go toward constructing a new Head Start facility at a tribal community college in her home state. 

“We must never lose sight of the need to innovate and motivate our young people, and I’ll keep fighting for educational opportunities and funding for our Native children and for our Head Start programs — because our community of tomorrow starts with a commitment to our kids today,” Heitkamp said.

Head Start is an early education program for low-income families. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) made the funds available to the tribal communities through the Community Facilities Program, which helps rural areas fund education and healthcare projects.