Minnesota Indian leaders appeared before a legislative committee in St. Paul Tuesday, demanding that Indian education offices in Bemidji and Duluth remain open. They told lawmakers the decision could have devastating results for Indian students.

	Gordie Adams, left, a member of the Bois Fort Tribal Council and Nett Lake School Board, and Judy Roy, right, tribal secretary for the Red Lake Band of Chippewa, urged state lawmakers to preserve the Indian education offices in Bemidji and Duluth. (MPR Photo/Tim Pugmire)

The 2002 Legislature cut the budget for the Department of Children, Families and Learning by $8.5 million. Commissioner Christine Jax responded by laying off staff and reducing agency services. She closed the office in Bemidji that operates the Minnesota Indian Scholarship Program, as well as the facility in Duluth that provides curriculum training and support to public schools with Indian students. Those services were moved to the agency's headquarters in Roseville.

But Indian leaders say the location change will be disastrous for students. Judy Roy, tribal secretary for the Red Lake Band of Chippewa, told members of the House Education Policy Committee that the northern Minnesota offices helped many Indian students stay in school.

"We need role models like the people in our local offices to show us that it is possible to take part in the American dream and the American education system, and still maintain our cultural ways, still maintain our identity as American Indian people," Roy said.

Indian leaders are not only angry with the decision, but also how state officials handled it. The sovereign tribal governments apparently had no advance notice and no input in the process.

Gordie Adams, a member of the Bois Forte Council and Nett Lake School Board, says the decision was "an insult. Tribes must be an active participant in any major decision affecting our people, especially our post-secondary students. Our band believes strongly in government to government relations, yet we were nor consulted. By actively consulting with tribes, this decision made by commissioner Jax could have been worked out," Adams said.

Officials with the Leech Lake Band have already gone to court, seeking a temporary restraining order to try to keep the offices open. A hearing is scheduled next month in Beltrami County Court.

"The House cannot demand small government, cut the agency, tell me to lay off people and not expect that I'm going to streamline somewhere." - Christine Jax, state education commissioner.

Indian leaders are also want action from Legislators to stop the closings. Rep. Bob Ness, R-Dassel, says he thinks the CFL decision was wrong. "Roseville is not a convenient location for 70 percent of the Indian people who do not have good transportation and do not have access. So I just think there's an incredible insensitivity here, and I for one am very, very disappointed in the manner in which the decision was made but more importantly the decision itself," he said.

Ness and other committee members were also disappointed that no one from the state education department attended the hearing to answer their questions.

CFL Commissioner Jax says neither she nor any agency experts were available, and the committee leaders declined her request to reschedule. Jax says the state Indian education programs remain intact, but the budget approved by Legislators last session left her with few options.

"The House cannot demand small government, cut the agency, tell me to lay off people and not expect that I'm going to streamline somewhere. The important thing here is that that's what I'm doing. I'm streamlining and making it more efficient. I am not stopping any services to American Indians," Jax said.

Jax, who's an Independent Party candidate for governor, criticized Legislators for holding such a hearing at a time when they're unable to pass bills or provide funding. She called the event "gratuitous election year politics."

Leaders of the House committee say they'll hold additional hearings to try to find a solution to the office closing controversy.