Renzi Secures A $1.8 Million Grant

Congressman Rick Renzi (AZ-1) today announced a new $1.8 million federal grant to assist in reducing Native American student dropout rates in rural Arizona. The 3 year grant will be distributed to the San Carlos & White Mountain Apache Reservations to fund dropout prevention programs & is being facilitated through the Arizona Dept. of Education's Native American Dropout Prevention Initiative. Arizona is the only state targeting Native American populations to prevent school dropouts. The grant funding was awarded after the funding for the program was initially rejected. Congressman Renzi weighed in on the federal level & fought for the grant funding because of the high dropout rates on tribal lands.

"I hope this dropout prevention program will become a model on tribal lands across the nation," said Congressman Renzi. "But more importantly, these funds will address a growing problem by engaging young minds & giving them the tools to become successful young adults who can make positive contributions to their communities."

The goal of the program is to establish a successful model for statewide collaboration among reservation-based public school districts; tribal leaders; youth & community members; colleges; state & tribal social services and behavioral health agencies serving Native Americans. It will help decrease dropout rates, increase graduation rates, increase attendance rates, improve performance on AIMS tests & will help provide more postsecondary options for students on tribal lands. The grant specifically addresses the 2 public high schools on the White Mountain & San Carlos Apache Reservations, both of which have significantly high dropout rates. The Native American dropout rate on rural reservation public schools was over 17%, while the Arizona state dropout rate for '03-'04 was 8.4%.

San Carlos Apache Chairwoman Kathy Kitcheyan said the funds would assist in combating the high drop out rate in San Carlos. "On behalf of the San Carlos tribe, I appreciate Congressman Renzi for his sincerity in helping our young people," said the Chairwoman. "We do have a high drop out rate & I am pleased that he recognizes that education is critical to the success of our people."