|
The Department published a Dear Tribal Leader Letter notifying the public it will be conducting Tribal Consultation on Fiscal Year 2026 grantmaking priorities for the Offices of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) and the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE). The purpose of this consultation will be to receive meaningful input from American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities to ensure that Tribal leaders’ view inform the design of potential grant priorities.
The consultation will be held on Tuesday, August 26, 2025, from 2:30 – 5:30 pm ET. (REGISTER HERE). If you would like to submit written comments, please submit them to the following email address: TribalConsultation@ed.gov. The comment period will close on September 26, 2025, at 11:59 pm ET.
The Education Department will be consulting on the following program(s):
1. Native American Career and Technical Education (NACTEP) Program;
2. State Tribal Education Partnership (STEP) Program;
3. Native American Languages (NAL) Program.
Specific Consultation Questions Include:
1. On May 21, 2025, ED published a Notice of Proposed Secretarial Supplemental Priorities (90 FR 21710). On July 21, 2025, ED published an additional priority (90 FR 34203). If ED were to use any of these four proposed priorities, please rank order their importance (1 being the most important and 4 being the least) as it relates to your community:
a. Evidence-Based Literacy
b. Education Choice
c. Returning Education to the States [and Tribes]
d. Advancing Artificial Intelligence in Education
2. As each priority could relate to each of the NACTEP, STEP, or NAL programs differently, could you please share your comments on the potential strengths, opportunities, and challenges with applying a proposed priority to a program?
3. Are there any other priority areas not covered under the proposed Secretarial Supplemental Priorities that should be considered for NACTEP, STEP, or NAL?
4. On April 23, 2025, the White House published Executive Order 14278 “Preparing Americans for High-Paying Skilled Trade Jobs of the Future” (90 FR 17525). If ED were to focus on expanding access to registered apprenticeships, would such expansion align to any opportunities you are currently developing?
5. On July 23, 2024, OCTAE previously asked a question on “Direct Assistance to Students,” to identify any challenges associated with implementing the NACTEP direct assistance to students’ guidance (85 FR 76548). Since then, are there any changes needed to the direct assistance to students’ guidance?
6. Have you considered consolidating your NACTEP or STEP grant award via Public Law 102-477 (usually referred to simply as “477”)? As part of returning education to the Tribes, how can ED continue to support you before and after grants have been consolidated via 477?
| 
