Buried in the 4,155-page omnibus spending bill is a single line item that’s likely to go unnoticed by almost everyone – except the freshman congresswoman who spent the last year and a half fighting for it.
"I literally woke up… and bawled my eyes out." https://t.co/FPlDbJjpkW
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) December 22, 2022
… “For an additional amount for ‘Education Construction,’ $90,465,000, to remain available until expended for necessary expenses related to the consequences of flooding at the To’Hajiilee Community School.”
It’s the only line item in the bill under a section titled “Bureau of Indian Education, Education Construction.” It’s money to rebuild a K-12 school in TóHajiilee, New Mexico, a remote community about 35 miles west of Albuquerque…
This school was built on a floodplain. For decades, walls of water have poured down from a nearby canyon and drowned the campus. School officials here routinely pull children from their classes and race to get them onto a bus to shuttle them to safety. Teachers scramble to move their cars to higher ground before they get washed away.
The constant flash floods have left the buildings in appalling disrepair. In March, the high school was abruptly vacated and shut down because it was literally sinking into mud, and its foundation was crumbling. The walls had visible cracks. Water poured through the roof every time it rained. There was nowhere else for the high school students to go, so they went home, where their teachers, somehow, carried on teaching virtual classes that previously involved hands-on work in chemistry labs, culinary arts classes and in woodworking classrooms…
The school isn’t just substandard; it’s a site that carries historical trauma. Like many of today’s BIE schools, the To’Hajiilee Community School is also a former Indian boarding school. For about 150 years, the U.S. government forced tens of thousands of Indigenous children to attend these schools to try to assimilate them into white culture. As a result, these kids endured physical, psychological and sexual abuse. Some died. Others disappeared.
Despite having such few resources, the To’Hajiilee Community School has still managed to thrive culturally, said Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), who represents this district. School officials have reclaimed the space and built a strong community around it, grounding its activities in Indigenous language and cultural revitalization.
Stansbury has made it her number-one priority to find money for the school ever since she won a special election in June 2021 to fill the House seat vacated by now-Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. And if anyone knows how the congressional appropriations process works, it’s Stansbury.
The lawmaker previously worked on BIE’s budget at the Office of Management and Budget and was a staffer on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. For the last 18 months, Stansbury has been aggressively, if desperately, lobbying anyone who has a say in tribal school funding — House appropriators, congressional leadership, White House officials, Interior Department officials — to fund the To’Hajiilee Community School adequately.
Over the past few weeks, as lawmakers scrambled to get their priorities into the $1.7 trillion year-end spending bill, Stansbury says she spent “every day, all day long,” dogging House and Senate appropriators, Hill leaders and administration officials to include money for the school. She didn’t know until Tuesday morning, when the bill was publicly released and she pored over its text, that her efforts had paid off…
“Even if I accomplish nothing else in my time serving in Congress,” she added, “this is the most important thing I could have ever imagined that we could get into the budget.”…
“This is the greatest news in a long time for the People of To’Hajiilee, a new school,” Nora Morris, vice president of the To’Hajiilee Navajo Chapter, said in a statement. “Thank you so much on behalf of our children, as we know they will be very excited and happy, as we all prayed for our children to be safe and warm in standardized buildings.”…
Asked why this one school’s success was such a priority among other issues in her district, Stansbury said it’s a victory for the school, but it’s about something bigger, too. It’s about tribes being able to chart a new path for tribal education.
“This is an opportunity for this community that has been ignored for so long, across the board, to create a state-of-the-art school to provide an education to children for generations … that is really, truly, reflective of the culture and language and community values of the To’Hajiilee community,” she said. “This has been happening across tribal communities.”…
Aside from this, Navajo Nation Division of Social Services will receive $4.1 million for a Tuba City DV shelter and $3 million for a Shiprock facility from this omnibus spending bill.
To’Hajiilee community secured $90.4 million to construct a new To’Hajiilee Community School. https://t.co/ZGSCOMOLv1
— Arlyssa D. Becenti (@ABecenti) December 25, 2022
Favorite Dogs & Cats – Day 7
West of the Rockies
This is excellent news. They won’t rebuild in the same flooded area though, I hope. (I may have missed mention of that.)
dmsilev
@West of the Rockies: Later on in the article,
So, thankfully they are not taking site-selection tips from Monty Python (‘Everyone said it was daft to build a school in a swamp. But I built it anyway, just to show them. It sank into the swamp.’).
dexwood
Happy to see this. Not only is Ms. Stansbury our rep but she is also the daughter of a friend we’ve known for about 40 years. Melanie is the real deal. Smart, tough, and a hard worker. Hate to comment and run, heading out.
frosty
@West of the Rockies: I read the full HuffPost article. They already have a site approved on higher ground out of the floodplain and can begin design as soon as the bill is signed. This is wonderful news and a testament to the lobbying and tenacity of the congresswoman. To have her only priority be passed; what an achievement!
OzarkHillbilly
Bootstraps, don’t tell me they don’t have them. Why back in the day that was all that kept my head above the flood waters. I don’t know why they should have it any easier than I did.
West of the Rockies
@dmsilev:
Thanks, d. I missed that.
Betty
Just a small payment toward the debt the country owes these people. Great news.
SFBayAreaGal
That is great news. Was the children tax credit reinstated in the bill?
Ruckus
It’s about damn time.
Thank you Rep. Melanie Stansbury.
We have a culture in this country that demands everything for me, nothing for thee. It is one of the things that really pisses me off about this country and I’m glad we finally have enough of a congress and president who understands being human. He’s not the first of course but Biden’s take on the country is pretty damn good about doing things that ordinary citizens need.
Another Scott
@SFBayAreaGal: No, the expanded child tax credit was not restored:
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.
SFBayAreaGal
@Another Scott: Damn. Thank you Another Scott
Suzanne
What an amazing accomplishment.
rikyrah
Glad to read such good news
Leslie
Outstanding. Kudos to Rep. Stansbury for fighting the good fight and prevailing. I hope we can keep electing people like her.
kalakal
@dmsilev:
“So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp”
Joking aside this is excellent news government doing what government should be doing
Kudos to Rep. Stansbury
Brent
I went to a local meetup where Rep Stansbury was the key speaker. This was just before the midterm of course. I had already voted straight blue ticket but I was curious.
She was really impressive. She did an amazing job talking about Dem accomplishments but she was also just a really electric speaker. Multiple standing ovations. I hope she has a great future.
Geminid
@Brent: New Mexico is sending some impressive Democrats to Wahington. Ben Ray Lujan and Martin Heinrich in the Senate, Rep. Stansbury, Rep. Fernandez Legere and now Gabe Vasquez from the 2nd CD. Plus, former Representative Deb Haaland is an outstanding Secretary of the Interior, and former 2nd CD Representative Xochitl Torres-Small serves as Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development.
prostratedragon
Great news! The new school should do so much for the community.
African Children’s Choir sing “Betlehemu.”
Brent
@Geminid: Agreed. I have only lived here about a year and I have been very impressed by the local politics. Public transportation, for instance, is totally free. The state university does a lot of great outreach to expand skills and tech availability. Lots of other examples and it is all being driven by the local politicians.
NM is a very poor state by most measures but it seems to be pretty determined to do right by its people.
I’m a digital nomad so I can really live anywhere and I have moved around a lot. But NM is definitely the type of place that makes me want to stay put for a while.
Timill
Also a feelgood story (from the NYT):
nytimes.com/2022/12/25/nyregion/snow-storm-korean-tourists.html
Rocks
All three of our New Mexico Congresspeople are fantastic!
Geminid
@Brent: Yesterday’s Washington Post had an article about the Democratic party’s success in New Mexico. An interview with Senator Lujan forms the article’s core. The reporter noted that New Mexico is the 3rd poorest state in the country.
I can believe it. I have vacationed there, and the parts of eastern and southern New Mexico I visited were as poor as any places I’ve seen in the U.S., including West Virginia and the Low Country of the Carolinas. I think New Mexico was basically tied with Mississipi for poorest state before the Second World War brought a spate of defense money.
The state is rich in cultural history and scenic beauty though, and it really deserves the name “Land of Enchantment.” New Mexico is also rich in wind and sunlight, and as the clean energy program that Governor Grisham and Democrats in the legislature put through in 2019 starts to kick in, that industry may help job creation.
Geminid
@Brent: Next time I travel to New Mexico I want to ride the Roadrunner, the train that goes between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. I also hope to visit the Silver City area.
I like to camp at Santa Rosa Lake State Park. The tent sites are up on a ridge and can be extremely windy, but there are some good places to walk and hike, including along the Pecos River. And the food at the Comet II Restaurant in Santa Rosa is delicious!
Brent
@Geminid:
Its the rail runner. I take it at least once a month. Most often traveling to Santa Fe but there are other good stops along the way. Including the town of Bernalillo which has, incredibly, a great Jazz and soul scene.
I will check out Santa Rosa since you’ve mentioned it.
Geminid
@Brent: There is also awell known skin diving spot in Santa Rosa they call Blue Hole.