​To: Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD)
From: [Your Name]

I add my voice to the Indigenous Education Now (IEN) Coalition, which calls on LAUSD to immediately attend to the crisis Native and Indigenous students are disproportionately facing amidst COVID-19, while also addressing the District’s historic failure to consult with Tribes and Tribal organizations as required by federal law.

More than 1,200 American Indian/Alaska Native, and thousands of Indigenous youth from Mexico and Central America are enrolled in LAUSD. Stark educational disparities point to a systemic need to consult with Tribes and Tribal organizations in meeting the special educational and cultural needs of Native American and Indigenous students. Join us in demanding the Los Angeles Unified School District right these historic wrongs by consulting with local Tribes, address the COVID-19 pandemic, acknowledge that they occupy Tongva and Tataviam land, and implement a culturally-responsive curriculum.

The Indigenous Education Now coalition is made up of students, parents, Tribes and Tribal organizations to end the consistent erasure of Indigenous people throughout the LAUSD educational system and its curriculum. The IEN coalition calls on LAUSD to make vital changes both immediate and long term.

In solidarity with the Indigenous Education Now Coalition, I demand that LAUSD meet the following demands:

1. Respond to the demand to end systemic discrimination against Native American and Indigenous students raised by the Indigenous Education Now Coalition to develop a protocol for conducting meaningful Tribal Consultation with Tribes and local Tribal organizations.

2. Address the crisis Native and Indigenous students are disproportionately facing amidst the COVID-19 pandemic as a part of the District's larger COVID response and recovery strategy in ways that respond to the unique cultural needs of Native American and Indigenous Peoples.

3. Implement curriculum change through Tribal Consultation and commit, at a minimum, to opting in to the California State Native American Studies Model Curriculum 9-12 Program and reforming third and fourth grades social sciences classes by academic year 2021-22.

4. Require Local Tribal Land Acknowledgment in all district schools both organizationally, physically and verbally.

Public education systems continue to fail Native American students, and the Indigenous Education Now Coalition urges LAUSD to adopt a set of education reforms to achieve educational justice for Native and Indigenous students.

Coalition members include: Gabrieleno-Tongva Band of Mission Indians, Fernandeno Tataviam Band of Missions Indians, California Native Vote Project, Anahuacalmecac International University Preparatory of North America, UCLA American Indian Studies Center, Pukúu Cultural Community Services, United American Indian Involvement Clubhouse, and American Indian Community Council.
- The Indigenous Education Now Coalition