So Dr. Rood asked us to:
1) identify some federally funded program that you feel should/could be reduced or eliminated;
2) and identify some federally funded program that you feel should be maintained or even expanded.
Well, I hate to upset anyone with this heritage, but I personally think the Bureau of Indian Affairs should be cut entirely. They're a part of the country, why do we still feel a need to count them out and do special things for them. Personally, I feel that they should assimilate (as a people), and we move their programs to other departments, such as reservations to the Department of the Interior. The other services are just ensuring the rights for Indians that all other citizens get, so why not just take away those "protecting their rights" programs and make them become part of the country. Incorporate the Indian schools into regular districts and change their funding and such to under the Department of Education at different levels of government. Most of the services can be taken care of by local agencies or other preexisting departments. The BIA was necessary once, but now, Indians should just get off their high horse of being so important and assimilate. Everyone else has had to.
However, I do feel that their funding needs to redistributed among somewhere else. Namely, the funding once set aside for the Bureau of Indian Affairs should go to the US Department of Education for distribution among the states that have districts which are experiencing difficulty keeping up with national standards. A major problem is low teacher salaries in these districts. By using the former BIA money to make these locations more hospitable and favorable for new and young teachers, we might see improvements. The No Child Left Behind program could be retooled with this additional money being granted to troubled districts.
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