Earlier this year I submitted a column highlighting Bay Mills' outstanding commitment to and leadership in education. Part of that leadership includes Bay Mills Community College's efforts in expanding charter schools.
Briefly, these schools are public, not private, schools that receive a charter from an institution authorized by the state to give them. They receive public funding, cannot charge tuition, and cannot discriminate in enrollment.
Some of the primary differences between these schools and their traditional counterparts is that they do not have elected board members and are often managed by private companies that hire non-union teachers (school board members are appointed by the authorizing institution, and in case you are curious as to our local situation, BMCC agrees to appoint board members according to the will of tribal citizens).
As a result of these differences, however, they often have more flexibility in terms of the methods they use to teach students.
There is a great debate raging on the local, state, and national levels as to whether charter schools are a positive development in education.
Many charter school opponents argue that they drain money from existing schools and that they are not subject to the same stringent oversight. Charter school supporters often counter that they provide competition for inadequate public schools, thereby causing each school to improve the education they provide.
In 1993, the State of Michigan sided with the supporters and enacted one of the nation's first charter school laws, allowing universities, community colleges, and school districts to charter new elementary, middle, and high schools throughout the state.
In passing this law, Michigan placed a "cap," or limit, on the number of schools that could be chartered by universities, which can authorize schools throughout the state.
Community colleges, on the other hand, are not subject to that cap, but are constrained in that they can only charter schools in their service district.
The number of charters available through universities has been maxed-out for some time, making BMCC the only institution available, and willing, to charter new schools throughout Michigan.
How, you ask?
As a tribally controlled community college, BMCC's "district" encompasses all of the Indigenous students in Michigan. Thus, BMCC's geographic district consists of the entire state and can legally charter schools anywhere therein, except Detroit, without regard to the "cap" placed upon university charters.
Currently, BMCC oversees 32 charter schools with approximately 10,000 students.
This has created an enormous opportunity for Bay Mills and other tribal nations within Michigan.
As many Bay Mills citizens have personally experienced, there is a dangerous lack of knowledge outside Indian Country (and, sometimes, even within) when it comes to understanding the true history of the United States and its relationship with Indigenous peoples. This includes a pervasive ignorance regarding the special sovereign status occupied by tribal nations and the origins of that status.
With oversight of 10,000 students, and a position as the only authorizer of new charter schools, for which there is high demand, BMCC can develop and impose curriculum that will elevate the understanding of our history and our sovereignty among a substantial population of students and their parents.
With time, that will lead to a reduction in the ignorance that serves as our worst enemy in defending our sovereignty.
Bay Mills Community College recognizes this fact and has made Indian education a key objective in the future of its charter school endeavors, for which it should be commended.
It is therefore imperative that our political leaders provide the support and the resources to BMCC necessary to realize this objective, and continue to demonstrate our strong leadership in education.
Author's Correction: In the previous edition of "On my Fishbox," I referred to the prevalence of "sulfur" in mineral deposits sought by Kennecott Mining Company. This should have read "sulfide," which provides the impetus for the production of sulfuric acid.
Bryan Newland is a Bay Mills Indian Community Member and a student at Michigan State University College of Law in East Lansing. He is the oldest son of Gordon and Vickie Newland of Bay Mills. He has written columns and letters that have appeared in local, regional, and national publications. You can respond to his column at 517-420-0808 or tikro6@yahoo.com.
