Councilor Ed Flynn hosted a panel discussion with Superintendent Brenda Cassellius to address the concerns with the immigrant Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community in regards to Boston Public Schools (BPS). This discussion provided a long-awaited platform for AAPI educators to express their concerns while sharing their vision for an inclusive and anti-racist education structure.
Given the Boston AAPI community’s long history of being silenced and unheard within the system, Ed Flynn, District 2 councilor, reasserted that, “our Asian community is diverse and resilient, it deserves to be heard and respected.”
Educators who spoke at the meeting came from all backgrounds, reminding us that AAPI concerns are diverse and not homogenous. Topics brought up ranged from bilingual teachers, to Sheltered English Immersion classes, to mental health. There was a common call for more efficient and effective communication that caters to immigrant families who are oftentimes the last ones to hear about urgent and important news.
Translation and interpretation was one of the greatest concerns held by all educators. Mei Yu, a Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) teacher from Josiah Quincy Elementary School, remarked that BPS needed to take interpretation more seriously by hiring high quality tutors. “When I go into Individual Education Program (IEP) meetings with parents, the interpreters are unable to articulate the parent’s concerns and this reflects unfairly on the students,” said Yu.
Tuyet Dinh, an SEI K2 teacher for the Mather Elementary School, also commented on the urgent need for Vietnamese translation, calling for a full-time Vietnamese interpreter to work within BPS’s central office. “These interpreters should have knowledge with how BPS operates and who are familiar with the educational terminology,” said Dinh.
Equity and community engagement were also important issues discussed. In particular, parents were frustrated by the representation of the exam school task force. They asked if parents from different AAPI communities and parents of children with learning disabilities could be considered if BPS is deciding to formulate a longer-term exam school policy. Parents also hope that Boston Latin School can follow the IEP guidelines to better support non-English speaking parents and students, asking that they do not relocate these students to different schools. “These non-english speaking parents feel helpless, and I hope that BPS can treat this seriously,” Yu said.
Katie Li, representing the Massachusetts Asian American Educators Association (MAAEA), cinched off the panel meetings with actionable long and short term steps and changes that the administration could adopt. These include funding ethnic and Asian American studies, creating an AAPI stakeholder group, and addressing the social and emotional health and wellbeing of AAPI students.
“Much of the way Asian American racialization becomes internal. We are racialized in society to be erased and insibilized and not to have voice and keep our place. That has major effects on our students who do not feel well at the mental and emotional level,” Li stresses.
Brenda Cassellius and her team responded that they are working on these short and long term goals which MAAEA had stated along with the equity team. Silvia Romero-Johnson, the assistant superintendent for the Office of English Learners closes off the meeting reassuring everyone that “[they] are working on developing a plan that will take the next three to five years on how we imagine services for English learners.”
To read this article in Chinese (Traditional), please click here.
