A group of Native American tribes and students is suing the Trump administration to reverse its recent firing of federal workers at Native schools that they said has severely lowered their quality of education.

The firings, part of the series of layoffs led by the Department of Government Efficiency that have cut thousands of federal jobs since January, included nearly one quarter of the staff members at the only two federally run colleges for Native people in the country: Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas, and Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Instructors, Coaches Force to Resign

Instructors, a basketball coach, and security and maintenance workers were among those who were fired or forced to resign in February. Although the total number of layoffs was not clear Sunday, the reductions also included employees at the central and regional offices of the Bureau of Indian Education, a federal agency. Some staff members, but not all, have been rehired, according to a statement from the Native American Rights Fund, which filed the suit Friday in federal court in Washington. About 45,000 children are enrolled in bureau-funded schools in 23 states.

As a result of the cuts, dozens of courses at the two colleges lost instructors, according to the lawsuit. And because of the loss of support staff and maintenance workers, school dorms were quickly overrun with garbage, students reported undrinkable brown water, dining halls failed to adequately feed students, and widespread power outages hampered students’ ability to study.

“Unfortunately, these firings were done without preparation and without regard to the health and safety of the students, and that is a continuation of a history of neglect and disrespect,” said Jacqueline De León, a lawyer for the tribes and students. “We are here to fight to make sure that it doesn’t continue.”

Lawyers File Suit Against Department of the Interior

Lawyers with the Native American Rights Fund filed the suit against the heads of the Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Office of Indian Education Programs.

Plaintiffs included the tribal nations of the Pueblo of Isleta; the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation; and the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. Five students from the two colleges are also among the plaintiffs.

A spokesperson for the Interior Department, which houses the Bureaus of Indian Education and Indian Affairs, said the department does not comment on pending litigation.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Rachel Nostrant/Chase Castor
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