麻州亞裔美國人教育工作者協會（MAAEA）是在波士頓公立學校和聯邦範圍代表著許多亞裔美國人教育工作者。在 2021-2022 學年，有關波士頓考試學校的更改招生辨法的提議雖不完美，但鑑於許多家庭對健康的憂慮，我們認為這是今年的最佳選擇。與其他種族相比，在波市公校 BPS 中選擇遠程學習的亞裔家庭人数較多。重要的是我們要保護家庭的健康，並認識到這種流行病所造成的破壞。
MAAEA 是一個支持獲取，支持多元和支持平權行動的組織。我們支持增加考試學校的多元化和公平，在這些學校中黑人和拉丁裔社區的代表人數不足。從根本來說，我們希望所有學生不論上那所學校，是否參加考試學校，都能獲取優質教育。我們認識到波市公校BPS 是層分的，而且考試學校（尤其是波士頓拉丁學校 BLS）比其他波士頓公立學校，擁有更多的資源。參加考試學校的學生通常會有更多機會。波市公校 BPS 考試學校一直沿用於錄取的系統，貌似公平是一種幻覺，但現實情況是，家境富裕和特權在該系統中，給某些社區帶來不公平的優勢。當務之急是考慮公平和機會，考慮週到地分配考試學校的學位。
展望未來，我們希望在此分享有關此計劃的創建和實施的五個問題。
首先，應使用個人家庭收入和其他機會衡量標準來代替郵政編碼。我們支持委員會為增加多元化和增加進入考試學校的機會所作的努力。但郵政編碼不允許波市公校 BPS 識別高度豪華化地區中的低收入家庭。例如，居住在 South End，Charlestown 和 Chinatown 的房屋計劃和公共住房中的低收入學生，將需要與居住在豪華開發區和高檔公寓中的學生競爭。
其次，應該為在波市公校小學就讀 BPS 的學生保留座位。給選擇退出系統並有能力留在私立學校的私立學校學生，提供如此多的考試學校學位是不公平的。應該為無法負擔私立學校學費，並難以駕馭複雜的私立學校入學和經濟援助手續的家庭保留座位。對於某些人士來說，這可能是個新聞，但據波士頓公共衛生委員會稱，波士頓的亞裔居民以及波市公校BPS 中的亞裔家庭的貧困率與拉丁裔家庭相當，而中等收入與黑人家庭相當。 BPS 波市公校亞洲學生通常不是醫生，科學家和工程師的孩子。他們是餐館，旅館，家庭護理和美甲店工作人員的孩子。我們的許多家庭沒有資源，網絡或語言技能，無法瀏覽甚至不了解METCO 市區到市郊上學或私立，教會，特許，先導或創新學校。根據波市公校 BPS 2019-2020 概覽報告，與其他種族群體相比，亞裔學齡兒童的 波市公校 BPS 入學率最高，為87％，相比之下，拉丁裔家庭為 83％，黑人家庭為 62％，然後是白人家庭佔 58％。對於我們的許多家庭而言，考試學校似乎是他們接受高質量教育的唯一選擇。
第三，我們的家庭對這項提議一無所知，只得悉二手和三手的消息了。我們了解到，該提案是在面對大流行病的嚴峻時刻限制下制定的。但正如我們在過去六個月中看到太多的次數，以及在過去幾十年中發生的不計其數的事例一樣，BPS 波市公校將非英語家庭視為事後的想法，即使一半的波市公校 BPS 家庭說英語以外的語言。我們最近發現，有關該建議的摘要信，在一週前已發佈在 BPS 波市公校考試學校的網站上，但我們認識的社區中沒人知道這封信。僅僅發信並期望非英語家庭能夠找到訊息是不夠的。即使有足夠的外展服務，一個星期也不足以理解該建議。如果 BPS 波市公校保持這種以英語為先的想法，就不能自稱為反種族主義或具有文化敏鋭的地區了。
第四，所有波市公校 BPS 家庭都有權了解正在發生的事情，並有權參與決策過程。這包括亞裔社區。我們組織的成員還記得華裔學生乘校巴從唐人街到查里士鎮是如何被扔石頭的。當時，為我們的社區沒有任何協商或考慮 - 任由我們自己去想辨法。 BPS 波市公校和波士頓市府在沒有我們参予的情況下，為我們强加決策，這種模式已經持續了數十年。
第五，高質量的教育體驗不僅僅是考試成績和大學入學統計數字。 BPS波市公校的大多數亞裔學生都集中在少數學校。儘管這些學校人數眾多，但仍有太多人感到不存在，無法獲得所需的協助。在 2019 年的《青少年風險行為調查評估數據》（YRBS）中，有 82％ 的BPS 波市公校亞裔中學生表示他們很少或從未獲得所需的協助，比其他群體高出 12 個百分點。同一項調查還發現，自殺學生中的亞裔學生比波市公校 BPS 中其他任何組別都要多。這是一個無聲的危機是需要解決的，這種危機在測試分數和成績數據中無法顯現出來的。
我們的家庭像所有家庭一樣，希望為孩子提供優質的學校和機會。但是他們已經被利用，忽略和變得隱蔽了數十年。他們有無法解決的實際需求。他們希望獲悉並作為影響他們的決策的一部分。他們希望被重視和發聲。我們的組織支持 BPS 波市公校考試學校2021-2022 的招生建議，即使並不完美。我們希望與學生，家庭和波士頓公立學校合作，以改善波士頓公立學校所有學生的教育體驗。
麻州亞裔美國人教育工作者協會
The Massachusetts Asian American Educators
Association (MAAEA) represents many Asian American educators in the Boston
Public Schools and around the Commonwealth. The proposal to change admissions
to the Boston Exam Schools for the 2021-2022 school year is not perfect, but we
support it as the best option for this year, given the health concerns many
families have. More Asian families in BPS chose remote learning than any other
racial group. It is important to protect the health of our families and
recognize the disruptions that this pandemic has caused.
We want to share five concerns about the creation and implementation of this plan as we look to the future.
First, individual family incomes and other measures of opportunity should be used instead of zip codes. We support the efforts that the committee has made to increase diversity and increase access to the exam schools. However, zip codes do not allow BPS to identify low-income families in highly gentrified areas. For example, low income students living in the projects and public housing of South End, Charlestown and Chinatown will need to compete with students living in luxury developments and upscale condos.
Second, seats should be reserved for students who attend BPS in elementary school. It is inequitable to give so many exam school seats to private school students who have opted out of the system and can afford to stay in private schools. Seats should be reserved for families who cannot afford private school tuition and have trouble navigating the complex world of private school admissions and financial aid. It may be news to some readers, but Asian residents of Boston, and by extension Asian families in BPS, have poverty rates on par with Latinx families and median incomes on par with Black families according to the Boston Public Health Commission. BPS Asian students are generally not the children of doctors, scientists, and engineers. They are the children of restaurant, hotel, home care, and nail salon workers. Many of our families don’t have the resources, networks, or language skills to navigate or even know about METCO or private, parochial, charter, pilot, or innovation schools. According to the BPS 2019-2020 At-A-Glance report, Asian school age children have the highest enrollment in BPS compared to other racial groups at 87%, compared to Latinx families at 83%, Black families at 62% and then white families at 58%. For many of our families, exam schools feel like their only option for a high quality education.
Third, our families have been left in the dark about this proposal and have been left to get their news second and third hand. We understand that the proposal was developed with severe time constraints in the face of a pandemic. However, as we have seen too many times in the last six months, and uncountable times in the last few decades, BPS treats non-English speaking families as an afterthought, even though half of BPS families speak a language other than English. We recently discovered that summary letters about this proposal were posted on the BPS Exam School website a week ago, but no one in the community that we know of has known about the letters. It's not enough to post letters and expect for the non English speaking families to find them. Even if outreach were sufficient, one week is not enough to understand this proposal. BPS can’t call itself an anti-racist or culturally responsive district if it continues this English-first mentality.
Fourth, all BPS families have a right to know what is happening and to be part of the decision making process. This includes the Asian community. Members of our organization remember how the buses of Chinese students were stoned as they were bussed from Chinatown to Charlestown. At the time, there was no consultation or consideration for our community--we were left on our own to figure it out. This pattern of BPS and Boston making decisions for us without us has been continuing for decades.
Fifth, a quality educational experience is not just about test scores and college admission statistics. Most Asian students in BPS are concentrated in a few schools. Despite having large numbers at these schools, too many feel invisible and are not getting the help they need. In the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey Assessment data (YRBS), 82% of BPS Asian middle school students said they rarely or never get the kind of help they need, 12 percentage points higher than any other group. The same survey found that more Asian students attempted suicide than any other group in BPS. This is a silent crisis that needs to be addressed, a crisis that can’t be seen in test scores and achievement data.
Our families, like all families, want quality schools and opportunity for their children. But they have been used, ignored, and rendered invisible for decades. They have real needs that are going unaddressed. They want to be informed and be part of decisions that affect them. They want to be seen and heard. Our organization supports the proposal to BPS Exam School admissions for 2021-2022, even though it is not perfect. We hope to work together with students, families, and the Boston Public Schools to improve the educational experience of all students in the Boston Public Schools.
Massachusetts Asian American Educators Association
Thanks for sharing your story.
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