The Executive Director of the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education spoke before the Watertown Business Industry School Coalition this week. Bill Mendoza has been with the White House initiative for five years. His office advocates for Native American Indian students by obtaining grants, contracts, loans and services. He says a major challenge is keeping the 567 tribes with over 300 different languages engaged in the governance of education:…

Mendoza says public schools serve 90 percent of Native American students and these students are in an extreme minority in most of those…

He says the mascot and imagery issue that many schools face, including Watertown with the KI-YI Homecoming, is one that only local communities can navigate through…….

Mendoza is originally from South Dakota.