Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. has signed an act that supporters hope will give new life to education on the reservation.

The act creates an 11-member Navajo Board of Education, a superintendent of schools and develops educational standards that reflect the Navajo culture and language.

“These changes are long overdue and will benefit our Navajo students, schools and parents and strengthen our Navajo culture,” Mr. Shirley said July 23 in a news release.

The Navajo Nation Council passed the education bill on a 59-19 vote July 19. The last day of the council’s summer session was July 23.

The law also elevates the status of the Division of Dine Education to the Department of Dine Education and creates a database of information on Navajo student academic achievement.

“We are a sovereign nation and we need to conduct ourselves as such. These changes now head us in that direction, getting back to standing on our own two feet and being a true sovereign,” Mr. Shirley said after signing the bill.

Testing has shown a huge gap in academic achievement between Navajo students and other students, Mr. Shirley said.

Leland Leonard, executive director of the Dine Education Department, said the new law will improve the accountability of schools.

“In education, we can achieve sovereignty, we can achieve self-sufficiency,” he said.

The Navajo Nation’s education laws were last revised more than 20 years ago under the administration of Navajo President Peterson Zah, according to the news release. —

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