Laguna Pueblo teacher to attend State of the Union in support of pay parity for tribal educators

Mar. 6—A physical education teacher for nearly a decade, Treva Riley is used to sweats, T-shirts and tennis shoes.

The comfortable attire is essential for teaching her students at Laguna Elementary School about physical activity and health. After all, it’s much more difficult to toss a dodgeball or tend a goal in formal business attire.

On Thursday, Riley will don a new dress to attend President Joe Biden’s third State of the Union address in Washington, D.C., alongside lawmakers and dignitaries from across the country.

A guest of U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez — the first-term Democrat representing New Mexico’s southern 2nd Congressional District — Riley will attend the annual speech in support of the stalled Parity for Tribal Educators Act. The federal legislation would offer educators at tribally administered schools the same benefits provided to those who work at schools run by the Bureau of Indian Education.

Riley said she hopes her presence will push lawmakers in attendance to consider tribal educators like her.

“That’s kind of my hope: To have them see me in that position, that I’m here not just for myself. I’m here for my community, my people,” she said.

It’s common for lawmakers to invite their own guests — particularly people connected with major legislation — to the president’s annual address.

U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján invited Tina Cordova, co-founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, as his guest to the event this year ahead of a Senate vote on the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. The measure would extend compensation to New Mexico residents who suffered health effects from nuclear testing fallout or while working in uranium mines after 1971.

As Vasquez’s pick to attend the State of the Union, Riley will serve as an advocate for passage of the Parity for Tribal Educators Act.

Sponsored by Vasquez with support from Republican lawmakers from Oklahoma, South Dakota and New York, the legislation would provide educators at tribally run schools access to pensions through the Federal Employees Retirement System and the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan. It also would require the Bureau of Indian Affairs to pick up the tab for government contributions to employees’ retirement plans.

There are several schools in New Mexico administered by tribal officials — rather than the Bureau of Indian Education. Among them are Santa Fe Indian School, Ohkay Owingeh Community School and Kha’p’o Community School in Santa Clara Pueblo.

Tribal school…