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Growing up on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota, he attended the St. Francis Indian School, a tribally operated school that relies on BIE funding.

After college, Fast Dog spent nearly two decades as a teacher at SFIS, doing his best to make a difference in the lives of Native kids from within the BIE system.Ìý

But after deciding SiÄ‹aÅ‹Ä¡u Lakota youth on Rosebud needed something different, he founded Wak̇aÆžyeja Ki ṪokeyaḣcÌ„i, a tribal charter school that emphasizes cultural enrichment on his home reservation.Ìý

So when he found out President Donald Trump had issued an order that aimed to “expand educational choiceâ€� and referenced BIE families in particular, Fast Dog was optimistic.Ìý

The order, according to Fast Dog and other supporters, could provide an important alternative to Native students who attend embattled public and government-operated schools.

But for those who wish to see Native students in public and Bureau of Indian Education-backed schools excel, the order is seen as a potential death knell.

Trump’s order prompts the Secretary of the Interior, whose department includes the BIE, to create a plan for allowing “families of students eligible to attend BIE schools� to “use their Federal funding for educational options of their choice, including private, faith-based, or public charter schools.� 

For private, parochial and nontraditional schools like Wak̇aƞyeja Ki Ṫokeyaḣc̄i or the Rapid City, South Dakota-based Oceti Sakowin Community Academy, which rely almost entirely on philanthropic funding, this could be a game-changer, Fast Dog said, by providing them with a new infusion of resources.

“The system’s not working for us,� Fast Dog said. “We need to change it.� 

But while some educators see the order as an opportunity, others fear its implications.

Count Cecilia Fire Thunder among those who view the order as a threat to Native American students and to tribes more broadly.Ìý

Fire Thunder, who is the president of the Oglala Lakota Nation Education Coalition on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, believes a voucher program would violate the United States’ legally binding treaty obligation to provide educational opportunities to tribes.Ìý

And while she doesn’t dispute the idea that the BIE system , Fire Thunder argues that its shortcomings are a consequence of federal underfunding.

“We don't blame the BIE for what's wrong,� said Fire Thunder, who is also president of the Little Wound School Board and a member of the Board of Directors for the Oglala Lakota College. “We blame Congress because Congress is not giving us the resources we need to repair and replace our buildings. They're not giving us the resources that we need. So we're way behind.� 

Trump’s order, Fire Thunder and others argue, could set the stage for the federal government to back from fulfilling a critical responsibility to tribes who traded their land for the guarantee of educational opportunities, among other legal obligations from the United States.Ìý

Brian Wagner, director of education for the Lower Brule and Crow Creek Sioux Tribes in South Dakota, said the order, if implemented, would take critical funding away from BIE schools that already receive vastly less money per student compared to most other schools.

BIE contract schools typically receive just $7,790 per student per year, Wagner said during a recent Coalition of Large Tribes meeting. By contrast, students in the only other federally operated school district – one that serves Department of Defense families – receive some $25,000 per student, according to from Fire Thunder.Ìý 

And numerous studies have found that voucher programs further reduce funding for public school systems.Ìý

“Whether it’s one dollar or $1,000 that we’re losing, that’s too much,� Wagner said. “You need to be against voucher systems because it’s going to hurt more of your kids than it will help.�

‘Track record’

Trump’s executive order requires Doug Burgum, the new secretary of the Department of the Interior, which includes the BIE, to “submit a plan to the Presidentâ€� that would allow BIE-eligible kids to use their federal school funding elsewhere.Ìý

Burgum’s deadline to do so is April 29.Ìý

The Interior Department did not respond to a request for comment on the order, while a BIE spokesperson said the bureau “is working to determine the next steps in accordance with the Executive Order.�

While it may take congressional approval to actually implement such changes, the aim is to implement these mechanisms in time for the 2025-26 school year, according to the text of the order.Ìý

That’s a fast turnaround, and it could shake up Native American education across the nation.Ìý

Some, like Fast Dog, think major change is in order.Ìý

“I mean, think of the definition of insanity: doing something over and over again� and expecting different results, he said. “That’s what we continue to do with our Native kids in South Dakota at the federal level and BIE level. We can’t keep doing that.�

The BIE has been the subject of numerous government and media investigations that have found low test scores, deteriorating buildings, questionable medication practices, misuse of funds and compromised safety in its schools.Ìý

The vast majority of Native American students, however, attend public schools, where statistics show they also have struggled to attain a quality education.Ìý

While about 45,000 students are in the BIE system, more than 450,000 attend public schools, to the National Indian Education Association.Ìý

Those students struggle to attain proficiency in English and math.Ìý

When it comes to reading, just 19% of American Indian 4th-graders are proficient and 23% of 12th graders. In math, 24% of fourth graders and 9% of twelfth graders are proficient.Ìý

White students are about twice as proficient in these subjects.Ìý

The main school system on the Rosebud reservation is the Todd County School District, which serves some 2,000 students in 13 schools, to the National Center for Education Statistics.Ìý

According to the South Dakota Department of Education 2023-2024 , only 11% of students in the district were proficient in English and 8% in science. While no percentage was included for math proficiency, a spokesperson for the education department said, “Numbers and percentages are not publicly displayed when the testing group is fewer than 10 students or when the proficiency of a group of students is less than 7%.� 

The district’s attendance rate was just 35%, and “College and Career Readinessâ€� was scored at 11%.Ìý

While not part of the BIE system, 83% of students in the Todd County School District are Native American, NCES .Ìý

Because the BIE serves enrolled members of tribes, many of those students would likely have the ability to transfer their federal funding to private schools like Wak̇aÆžyeja Ki ṪokeyaḣcÌ„i or Sapa Un Jesuit Academy, which is also on Rosebud, or under Trump’s order, even though they don’t currently attend a BIE school.Ìý

Students in the district receive an average of nearly $14,000 in federal funding each year, according to NCES data.

Sapa Un and Wak̇aƞyeja Ki Ṫokeyaḣc̄i, on the other hand, currently receive almost no federal or state funding.

If students wanted to bring that federal money to Sapa Un, the school would be glad to enroll them, said Rodney Bordeaux, the president of St. Francis Mission, which operates the parochial school.Ìý

But with just 47 students in K-8 classrooms, Sapa Un is too small to immediately handle a significant influx of new kids.Ìý

Bordeaux said the school might be able to grow to meet the demand but that such growth would have to occur in “a strategic way to make sure that our academic standards are met (and) our student-teacher ratios are kept to a point where it allows for the students to have academic success,â€� Bordeaux said.Ìý

Bordeaux, though, believes it’s important to try to make that happen.Ìý

“We can give the parents a better opportunity to educate their child if they come to Sapa Un Jesuit Academy,� he said. “We have the track record. We have the test scores.� 

Bordeaux provided data indicating 34 Sapa Un students were testing at or above grade level in English, and 37 were doing so in math in the spring of 2024. At that time, six students were testing below grade level in English, and three were below grade level in math.

Fast Dog said his school – and local kids – also would benefit from the executive order.

Wak̇aÆžyeja Ki ṪokeyaḣcÌ„i provides an immersive Lakota education for 45 students in kindergarten through 5th grade.Ìý

In addition to traditional subjects like math, English and science, Wak̇aÆžyeja Ki ṪokeyaḣcÌ„i students learn cultural skills, including how to butcher a buffalo and traditional dancing.Ìý

Except for a single grant from the National Education Association to boost its Lakota language programming, Wak̇aÆžyeja Ki ṪokeyaḣcÌ„i doesn’t receive any money from the federal or state government, Fast Dog said.Ìý

Instead, it relies on philanthropy, at least for now.Ìý

“This school is symbolic of what a school is supposed to be,� Fast Dog said. “There needs to be leadership – grassroots leadership – to transform education. Sometimes all it takes is for someone to demonstrate what you need to do to change.� 

If things do change and the plan called for in Trump’s executive order is implemented, Fast Dog would like to expand Wak̇aÆžyeja Ki ṪokeyaḣcÌ„i to include grades nine through 12.Ìý 

‘Not getting the resources’

But those changes could come at a high cost for schools that currently receive significant federal funding and educate nearly all Native American students in South Dakota and across the U.S.Ìý

John Tippeconnic, former director of the Office of Indian Education Programs for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, said he worries that the order, while potentially offering some families more choice in their kids’ education, could sap funding for a school system that already gets less per student than other districts.Ìý

“I think there's potential for a decrease in BIE school enrollments, and along with that, potential for a decrease in their funding,â€� said Tippeconnic, who is also a of American Indian Studies at ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ State University. “But it all depends, you know, on how they go about it.â€� 

If a voucher system is implemented, Tippeconnic would like to see tribal consultations to ensure the government is meeting its “trust responsibility to provide education for American Indian students.� 

But he’s not sure that’s possible, as evidence suggests voucher programs tend to harm existing public school systems.Ìý

The Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think-tank, developed a tool designed to predict how expected enrollment declines in public schools would reduce per-pupil funds in individual school districts across the country.Ìý

That tool doesn’t include BIE schools, but it indicates that if Todd County School District were to lose 5% of its students due to voucher programs, each of the remaining students would see a  $592 decline in funding. The district did not respond to requests for comment about the order and its potential effects.Ìý

Hilary Wething, an EPI economist, said such declines can undermine the public school system more broadly.

“Public dollars allocated to education should go to boosting spending in public systems, not subsidizing private education,â€� Wething wrote in a .Ìý

Wething said vouchers can undermine schools where students are not demonstrating proficiency.Ìý

“I don't hear poor test scores as a sign that the school is failing,� she said. “I hear poor test scores as a sign that that school is not getting the resources they need to provide quality (education) for their children.� 

Troy Lunderman, Governmental Affairs Director for the St. Francis Indian School, said his BIE-funded, tribally operated school already struggles so much with funding that it doesn’t even have enough money to create a safe environment.Ìý

“Our middle school needs a roof,� he said. “The high school needs a roof. Our football field is detrimental and dangerous. I mean, we've shown the BIE that it needs to be fixed. We've shown the injuries. Some are real grotesque – broken bones, lacerations.� 

And while private schools can select high-achieving students or kick out those who are struggling, Wething noted that “public schools have an obligation to provide education – quality education – for all students that walk through their door, not just the select students who are already performing well on tests, which is usually the students that are going into these private schools.� 

While she acknowledged schools like Sapa Un and Wak̇aƞyeja Ki Ṫokeyaḣc̄i may be creating better outcomes than BIE or public schools on Rosebud, Wething said, “It is not clear to me that comparing this private school that accepts 50 students is a fair comparison for the public school that is accepting 2,000.�

And a lack of “transparency and accountability,â€� she said, makes it hard to make such a comparison.Ìý

In “study after study,� Wething wrote in a , vouchers were found not to “improve student achievement and, hence, are not a cost-effective way to spend any additional dollars that states or localities are willing to commit to K–12 education.� 

“Instead of boosting student achievement in inequitable and cost-effective ways, voucher programs generally end up putting large new demands on state and local budgets and increase the cost of educating students who remain in public school,â€� Wething wrote.Ìý

With the BIE system and other public schools that educate Native Americans already struggling to access adequate funding and meet pressing demands to educate kids, Fire Thunder, Wagner and Tippeconnic believe Trump’s school-choice order could represent a grave threat.Ìý

The harm could be especially significant at BIE schools which are often located in remote areas with few options.Ìý

“If the public school is not strong and the private school options are very slim, all you're doing is hurting these students disproportionately,â€� Wething said.Ìý

Tippeconnic and others argue what BIE-eligible students need is more support for existing schools, not vouchers that could reduce their enrollment and funding.Ìý

“There just needs to be a serious commitment from the powers that be in the federal government – with Congress, with the Department of Interior –  to improve that school system,� Tippeconnic said.

In a responding to the executive order, Jason Dropik, executive director of the National Indian Education Association, wrote that the “NIEA and our members believe in school choiceâ€� and pointed to a 1988 law that enhanced community control of BIE schools, the vast majority of which are now operated by tribal governments.Ìý

But as Interior looks to implement Trump’s new order, Dropik asked Burgum to consult with tribes about “any school choice funding program� and urged him not to “deplete the already underfunded accounts supporting Tribal schools.�