RALEIGH -- American Indian students in North Carolina have made slight gains in school achievement, according to the latest data, but still lag significantly behind state students as a whole.
There is good news, though, for American Indian students, whose dropout rates declined and who posted the highest graduation rate - 60 percent - in a three-year period, according to the 2010 report on Indian education.
The statistics were presented Wednesday to the State Advisory Council on Indian Education in Raleigh, where an assistant deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education spoke.
Kevin Jennings of the department's Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools pointed out that nationally American Indian and Alaska native students have higher dropout rates than other ethnic groups.
Jennings and others in the Obama administration have met with tribal leaders across the country, who have complained about dilapidated tribal schools, high rates of violence, alcohol and drug abuse among students and difficulty recruiting teachers from the community.
The education department has made some changes to benefit American Indian students, Jennings said. For example, instruction in native languages previously did not qualify for funding because they were not classified as "foreign languages" even though they were second languages for students.
On Tuesday, Jennings visited the Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School in Halifax County and then met with American Indian students from Wake County, who told of being bullied in school.
In an effort to reduce stereotypes, many North Carolina schools have dropped American Indian mascots, said Benita Tipton, of the state Department of Public Instruction. As of May, 33 schools in the state used American Indian mascots such as "Redskins," "Braves," and "Chiefs." That's down from 73 schools in 2002.
Tipton, a Lumbee who grew up in Pembroke, said she never thought about the issue much when she was a cheerleader for the "Warriors." But stereotypical imagery such as tomahawks and spears can be damaging, she said.
"Our kids are being seen as savages in our schools," she said. "This is why the elimination of American Indian mascots has to happen."
North Carolina has one of the largest American Indian student populations in the country. The state is home to eight tribes and more than 20,000 American Indian students.
