achtungbaby
08-09-2004, 03:13 PM
By Michael Sze, Sing Tao Daily and Ken Ko
World Journal, translated by Yvonne Lee, Aug 09, 2004
SAN FRANCISCO -- Chinese American parents held a rally in San Francisco’s Chinatown July 24 to make their case for the non-citizen voting in school board elections.
To increase awareness and correct misperceptions on the proposed law, a group of Chinese American parents from the city's Visitation Valley area held a rally in Portsmouth Square to explain to the Chinese community their position on the voting rights for recent immigrants.
Amid signs carried by both parents and children, Mrs. Zhang, a recent immigrant, explained in the World Journal that many of the students in the San Francisco school district are children of new immigrants. These parents should have the right to participate in school matters.
Mrs. Zhang’s son was enrolled in the Visitation Valley high school. His report card is the only tool that tells her how he is doing, and she finds it difficult to reach his teachers. She believes the city’s public school system ought to have more elected representatives who could understand and present Chinese American issues.
Another parent, Mrs. Tam said in the Sing Tao Daily that education is the most urgent concern for each parent, but the current process for naturalization takes many years. While waiting to become citizens, she hoped non-citizens could express their views through voting, insuring that the suggestions of new immigrants would be respected.
The parents said they felt discouraged when the school board did not respect their suggestions and pleas. They pointed out American society encourages new immigrants to immerse themselves in their new communities, but when they wanted to be involved with the most personal concern of their children’s education, they were rejected.
Seventeen-year-old Alan Wong, the student-elected representative to the city’s school board, recalled when he was enrolled in elementary school, his parents who had immigrated from Hong Kong, hadn’t become citizens yet. Though they were active in the parents association and other related organizations, when the school board would consider any school policies, his parents were unable to have a real voice. It was unimaginable to Wong that his parents were unable to do everything they could to attend to his educational needs during his first years in school.
Authored by the president of the board of supervisors, Matt Gonzalez, the law to give the vote to non-citizens would require an amendment to the city charter. If passed, it would allow adults who have children enrolled in the city’s public schools, whether they are parents, legal guardians and regardless of their immigration status, to have the same right as citizens to cast a vote in school board elections. This proposition will be voted on in November. If passed, it will be implemented in the 2006 school board election.
World Journal, translated by Yvonne Lee, Aug 09, 2004
SAN FRANCISCO -- Chinese American parents held a rally in San Francisco’s Chinatown July 24 to make their case for the non-citizen voting in school board elections.
To increase awareness and correct misperceptions on the proposed law, a group of Chinese American parents from the city's Visitation Valley area held a rally in Portsmouth Square to explain to the Chinese community their position on the voting rights for recent immigrants.
Amid signs carried by both parents and children, Mrs. Zhang, a recent immigrant, explained in the World Journal that many of the students in the San Francisco school district are children of new immigrants. These parents should have the right to participate in school matters.
Mrs. Zhang’s son was enrolled in the Visitation Valley high school. His report card is the only tool that tells her how he is doing, and she finds it difficult to reach his teachers. She believes the city’s public school system ought to have more elected representatives who could understand and present Chinese American issues.
Another parent, Mrs. Tam said in the Sing Tao Daily that education is the most urgent concern for each parent, but the current process for naturalization takes many years. While waiting to become citizens, she hoped non-citizens could express their views through voting, insuring that the suggestions of new immigrants would be respected.
The parents said they felt discouraged when the school board did not respect their suggestions and pleas. They pointed out American society encourages new immigrants to immerse themselves in their new communities, but when they wanted to be involved with the most personal concern of their children’s education, they were rejected.
Seventeen-year-old Alan Wong, the student-elected representative to the city’s school board, recalled when he was enrolled in elementary school, his parents who had immigrated from Hong Kong, hadn’t become citizens yet. Though they were active in the parents association and other related organizations, when the school board would consider any school policies, his parents were unable to have a real voice. It was unimaginable to Wong that his parents were unable to do everything they could to attend to his educational needs during his first years in school.
Authored by the president of the board of supervisors, Matt Gonzalez, the law to give the vote to non-citizens would require an amendment to the city charter. If passed, it would allow adults who have children enrolled in the city’s public schools, whether they are parents, legal guardians and regardless of their immigration status, to have the same right as citizens to cast a vote in school board elections. This proposition will be voted on in November. If passed, it will be implemented in the 2006 school board election.