The U.S. government has consistently put Native Americans on the back burner, especially when it comes to education. When graduation rates are low at a school, it can have serious consequences for adolescents in terms of their future economic and social opportunities. Education plays an important role in everyone's life, especially in determining the future of individuals. America has failed the Native American education system because of institutionalized boarding schools, the current need for representation of Native American educators, and the inadequate education provided by reservations. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The only time Native Americans were a priority was when the U.S. government forced Native children to attend boarding schools. The whole purpose of boarding schools was to force children to forget their “Indianness” or “savagery” so that they could become whiter. If Native American parents refused to send their children to boarding schools, Interior Ministry agents could stop and even go so far as to refuse to feed their families. These boarding schools caused extreme harm to the children who were forced to attend them. For example, children rarely had the opportunity to see their families, speak their native language or even practice their culture. Boarding schools did no good for Native American communities. Not everyone's experiences were the same with boarding schools. Susan LaFlesche Picotte had attended boarding school: Hampton Normal and Agriculture Institute from 1884 to 1886. Susan already spoke English fluently, so she had a better time there than the others. She had a more standard academic experience while other students who were not fluent had a less conventional education. After attending Hampton Institute, she went to medical school and became a doctor, then returned to Omaha to educate the tribe about alcoholism and hygiene. She eventually became Omaha's tribal doctor. This shows that everyone was treated differently, even when they attended the same school. Another example of children having different experiences is that some children have been physically and sexually abused by teachers or dorm supervisors. Every child who attended these boarding schools was affected in one way or another. Only Arizona, Washington, Oklahoma and Kansas teach boarding in their public schools. This is just another example of how America is ignoring the problems it is creating by not teaching the future about what it has done in the past to Native Americans. Schools located on reservations are considered public schools, but there is a slight difference from the typical public school. Typical public schools are administered and funded by the Department of Education, but schools located on reservations are operated and funded by the Department of the Interior within a subgroup called the Bureau of Indian Education, also known under the name BIE. Thus, the ten percent of indigenous students who do not attend public school attend a school managed by the BIE. There are a total of 183 schools across 23 states and 64 reservations. BIE-operated schools have some of the lowest test scores as well as low graduation rates nationwide. The IBE is not the department that should be running any form of education when it is clear that it simply affects students in a negative way, either by having failing test scores,..