One Step Forward--Half a Step Back: A Status Report on Bias-Based Bullying of Asian American Students in New York City Schools

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16

Bullying; Racial Bias; Asian American Students; Urban Schools; Student Surveys; Educational Environment; Student Experience; School Policy; Elementary Secondary Education

In September 2008, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Schools Chancellor, Joel Klein announced Chancellor's Regulation A-832, which established policies and procedures on how New York City schools should respond to bias-based harassment, intimidation, and bullying in schools. The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), the Sikh Coalition, and many other community organizations had long advocated for such measures. In 2012, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), the Sikh Coalition, with help from community partners the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF) and CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities conducted a "snapshot" survey of 163 Asian American students to shed light on the current school climate in New York City public schools. The 2012 snapshot survey also serves as a follow-up to the 2009 survey on the school bullying of all New York City students, including Asian American students. The goal was to compare and contrast the responses of Asian American students in the 2009 and 2012 surveys to assess whether progress was made in meeting the mandates of Chancellor's Regulation A-832. As the five year anniversary of the anti-bullying regulation approached, the survey found a significant gap between the promise of bias-free public schools and the day-to-day reality of Asian American students. To be fair, there are clear signs of hope. The survey found important improvements in school efforts to address bullying that can be traced directly back to the precise requirements created by this Regulation. Nevertheless, too many Asian American students continue to report that bias-based harassment is part of their educational experience. [This report was also authored by The Sikh Coalition with help from: Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF) CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities.]

ERIC

2014

ED547243