Asian Pacific American Ethnic Data Disaggregation Registry Opposition Press Conference

ASIAN** PACIFIC AMERICAN ETHNIC DATA DISAGGREGATION REGISTRY OPPOSITION PRESS **CONFERENCE

by Connecticut General Assembly

Hundreds of Asian Pacific Americans (APA) are expected to be the CT State Capitol to support SB 359“AN ACT PROHIBITING THE DISAGGREGATION OF STUDENT DATA BY ETHNIC SUBGROUPS IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL” INFORMATION

SYSTEM” during Education Committee public hearing on March 8th, 2018.

PURPOSE:

Raising awareness and objection to other state’s passage of APA Disaggregation of Student Data by Ethnic Subgroup targeting only APA.SB 359 will address some of the concerns related to Ethnic Registry and collection of student data.

WHO:

APA Community Leaders, Students, Educators, Legislators

TIME:

10:00 AM, Thursday, March 8th, 2018

WHERE:

Location_ subject to size of audience, LOB, 300 Capitol Ave, Hartford, _CT

CONTACT:

Senator Tony Hwang,tony.hwang@cga.ct.gov, Office 860-240-8805

SB 359 was proposed jointly to Education committee by State Senators Tony Hwang, George Logan, Heather Somers and Art Linares to counter possibility the APA ethnic data registry occuring in CT like other states throughout US. A bill of similar concept opposing an APA ethnic registry has also been raised in Judiciary Committee by Representative William Tong.

APA community leaders along with educators, legislators in support of this grass-root movement opposing ethnic data registries are expected to address a large and excited crowd who travelled from all over the state to attend and participate by submitting

personal testimonies to the Education Committee.

“When students walk into classrooms across our state, they should feel safe. They should feel welcome, and free to learn and share their ideas, thoughts, and dreams with their peers and their teachers” said House Minority Leader Rep** Themis Klarides **in her written testimony. She is expected to testify in person during the public hearing.

“Every student is unique. It is the job of the school to identify where a student is on his/her learning pathway, and to provide the necessary support and resources for continual growth for that student.” Said Dr.** Guy Stella **in his written testimony, a retired Superintendent from the Woodbridge School District and an educator for 50+ years with extensive local and international experience in working with multicultural communities.

Remembering the famous phrase of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Kevin** **Lu, a 9th grader from Amity High School, said: “We as Americans and immigrants, parents and students alike, must likewise say of the ethnic distinctions imposed upon Asian Americans (in other states) that “Division anywhere is a threat to unity everywhere.””

“Every generation of immigrants contributed, enriched and reshaped a constantly evolving identity of being American. But it is one identity nevertheless. We support legislation that bans labeling kids as perpetual foreigners or as "the other" in name of data collection.” Salman** **Hamid, an educator at public school of Pakistani ethnicity.

“The US is the only country for the second and forthcoming generations of American citizens who should not be tied to their ancestor’s nation or ethnicity origin. We are proud to carry Chinese Heritage, but at Government Policy level, it is clear in practice that all children should be treated fairly and equally as Americans” Said Bo** **Yang, president of CT’s Chinese American Heritage Association.

(The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Get Real America. )