In 2002, Mayor Michael Bloomberg won control over the New York City public school system. Today, a year and half later, almost every aspect of the city’s public education system has been reorganized. Under the new education reforms, the city reorganized 30 school districts into 10 districts. However, for new immigrant parents, including Chinese parents, these reforms have not changed the long-term and serious problem of translation services in schools.
The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) and Advocates for Children conducted a study which showed that immigrant parents who are not English-language proficient cannot participate in their children’s education. Because the public school system does not have translation services for immigrant parents, thousands do not understand the notices from school, the schools’ English as a Second Language (ESL) programs, and even where to sign on a permission slip.
Currently, more than half of the students in New York City’s public school system are immigrants and make up 20 to 30 percent of the student population in the suburbs.
In order to maintain and strengthen communication between parents and schools, the Department of Education instituted a Learning Support Center in each of the new districts, with an additional center in the three largest districts. (Learning Centers are places parents and students can go to have their concerns addressed. But, the centers are not providing easy translation for parents.)
Mrs. L. , whose children are enrolled in Bayside’s school district, waited at Flushing’s Learning Support Center on 30-48 Linden Place, a 40-minute bus ride from home. (Before the reform, the board of education offices were only a 10-minute bus ride away.) She learned about the center not from school but from other parents. But because she does not speak English well, the school’s teachers would have asked her to seek help at the center anyway.
When her family immigrated from China to New York three years ago, Mrs. L’s children were placed in an English remedial class and did very well. However, she does not understand why her kids are not promoted to regular classes, where they would benefit both academically and socially. She also worries that if they remain in the remedial class, that they won’t be able to attend a good high school. She spoke to other Chinese parents about this, not to the teachers who can’t understand Chinese. “Using English to say hi is possible, but not to explain such a complicated issue,” she said.
She found out from the parents that her kids must pass the city’s standardized tests in English and math to get into regular classes. Mrs. L then decided to use her poor English to talk to a teacher. The teacher said that she had to speak to the principal directly. To talk to the principal, she asked a parent who spoke English to help her translate.
The principal refused her request. Even through the translation, Mrs. L did not fully understand why. She ventured that the principal was afraid that her kids would not pass the tests, which would then affect the overall performance of the school. She was very angry and felt her translator failed to do a good job. Furthermore, she did not want to fight with the principal in front of other people.
That first meeting with the principal was a year ago. This year, she tried one more time. Another parent acted as a translator and the principal refused her request again. “It seems like knowing the language gives you the right. Knowing English will give you the right to solve everything. They refuse to listen to me. Even though I am the mother of the children, they refused to let me fight for them,” said Mrs. L.
According to Mrs. L, the school that her kids attend is about 40 percent Asian, including Chinese, Korean and South Asian students, however, there are no Asians working in the principal’s office. There is no translation services provided during school activities; all the information and documents are in English with at most one sentence in Chinese (or other foreign languages) indicating that parents must find a translator for the document. Since she usually gets these notices at night, she wonders where she can find a translator at the last minute.
Parents usually communicate with the teachers and principal through their children or other parents. “It is really inconvenient,” she said.
Mrs. L, who made her way to the Learning Support Center to seek help, worried when she saw no Asians working there and wondered if she needed to go home to find a translator. In her broken English, Mrs. L communicated to the receptionist that she needed a translator and was asked to wait. Two hours later, a Chinese staff member from another agency arrived, not too happy to be interrupted at work.
“I did not feel good about this. I cannot blame him. How come the center doesn’t have its own translators? There are so many Chinese parents and students who need help and have questions. It is a disadvantage for Chinese parents and students who don’t understand English. It is unfair,” she said.
Mayor Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein have invested heavily on parents’ involvement. However, if they do not meet the basic needs of the parents, such as the translation services, the push for parental involvement will not succeed.
The New York Immigration Coalition and Advocates for Children urge the city government to address the needs of immigrant parents, to understand their value in their child’s education, and to provide translation services. The study interviewed 1,000 parents with a limited understanding of English. Forty-seven percent of the parents indicated that they don’t received translated notices from schools, the Department of Education, and school districts; 56 percent indicated they have never or rarely received translation services for school related activities.
The study, “Denied at the Door: Language Barriers Block Immigrant Parents from School Involvement,” includes 342 questions related to student language learning issues. Thirty-four percent of the parents indicated that they were not informed about their children’s education through their native language. Sixty percent indicated that the schools only used English to communicate and interact with them. Twenty-six percent indicated that they did not know where to sign on their permission slips.
Jill Chaifetz, executive director of the Advocates of Children said that federal, state and New York City laws all clearly require schools to provide the necessary language translation services. However, the public system has consistently neglected these laws. She emphasized that many studies have shown that parental involvement is important to their child’s health and school performance.
Yet, for immigrant parents the language barrier prevents their involvement. Seventy-five percent of the parents said that if school provide translation services, they would participate in school related activities.
A member of Stuyvesant’s Parent Teacher Association, Dou-min Li, criticized the Department of Education’s reform plan for not addressing the needs of the immigrant parents. She said that although the reform ostensibly called for parental involvement, it failed to address the problems of the past.
In town hall meetings set up by the Department of Education, Chinese parents do not get to speak out. Dou-min Li pointed out that the most important issue in parental involvement is language. Without translation services, they cannot participate. She urged the Department of Education to implement the reform to let parent participate fully, organize parental involvement structures, and bring translation services to schools.
Xian-nan Cai, a board member of District 25, said that the mayor, the Department of Education, and other administrators do not understand immigrant issues, language barriers, and economic concerns. She encouraged Chinese parents to actively fight for their rights and benefits.
This article was written as part of IPA-New York's Ethnic Press Fellowship.
