MCK statement on Education

06/20/2019

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK) wishes to advise Kahnawa’kehró:non that the Council of Chiefs is carefully observing the current situation regarding Education and is asking for all sides to work together to ensure issues/problems are addressed immediately.

“While there seems to be dissatisfaction from several segments of the community – including students, staff and parents – we all have to remind ourselves of the priority: our children’s education,” stated Grand Chief Joseph Tokwiro Norton. “Harry Rice and Ross Montour, who hold the Education Portfolio on behalf of the Council of Chiefs, have been approached by dozens of community members, each who has a passionate interest in their children’s future.”

The MCK has a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that education is provided to the best of the community’s ability.

“While we have always supported the philosophy of a Kahnawà:ke system that responds directly to the parents and families, this situation is being compromised by the obvious vast differences between certain groups,” Grand Chief Norton continued. “Let me be clear that the MCK wants no part in running our Education system. However, we have a duty to assist in any way possible to provide solutions for problems that are paralyzing our system and potentially impacting what is most important here: the quality of education our children receive.”

“With all of this in mind, the MCK is suggesting that parents and the Combined Schools Committee create an independent group to facilitate a dialogue with all sides,” he concluded. “This group would be responsible to gather ideas, find common areas of concern and reconcile the actual issues – both obvious and underlying. Their most important task would be to come up with a plan that all can agree with. Education is too important to allow disrespect and unreasonable behavior to cloud our collective judgment, so we must not put the matter aside in the hope that it will go away…because it won’t. We absolutely need to work together.”