A new study conducted in public schools that have 30 percent or more Chinese-speaking students indicated that in Brooklyn, six out of seven of the parent coordinators do not speak Chinese. On the 27th, City Councilman David Yassky revealed the study and sent a petition to

the Department of Education (DOE) to request that in future selections, parent coordinators speak English as well as other languages spoken by the students and parents in the schools.

Yesterday, approximately 50 people, including students, parents, and Brooklyn residents, arrived at City Hall to protest and to demand that the DOE address the needs of new immigrants.

Yassky's office discovered that of the 17 Brooklyn schools where a significant number of students are Chinese, only four have parent coordinators who can speak both Chinese and English. In the remaining 13 schools, four coordinators can speak Italian, one speaks Spanish, and six have no bilingual skills.

Yassky was concerned that parent coordinators, who are the main channel of communication between parents and schools, cannot communicate with the majority of students and parents. He questioned how they could carry out their jobs.

Paul Ma, president of the Brooklyn Chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans, said that many Chinese parents had told the organization that because of the language barrier, they could not communicate with the schools. Of the 1,800 students who take English classes offered by the organization, 1,300 are immigrant students. Many parents also take these classes in order to be able to communicate with the schools.

Mrs. Lin and Mrs. Chou, whose children attend P.S. 204, said that since there is no Chinese-speaking teacher in the school, they do not know how their children are doing in school. They would like to be involved, but they have been unable to do so.

Jean Desravines, the director of Parent Participation in the Department of Education, replied that the DOE clearly lists bilingual skills as a preference in its selection for parent coordinators and placed advertisements in media outlets such as the World Journal. In the future, when a vacancy needs to be filled, the DOE will work with minority organizations to encourage more bilingual candidates to apply for the position.

The Asian student population in Brooklyn's P.S. 176 is 45 percent – the largest ethnic grouping in the school – and the parent coordinator is not bilingual. Margaret Degaeta, the school principal, said that although there were few candidates who could speak Chinese, after the review of their overall qualifications they were not chosen. Among the school's 77 teachers, six of them can speak Mandarin and other Chinese languages. In addition, there are teachers' assistants who could serve as translators. All the documents handed out by the school to Chinese parents are translated into Chinese, and Degaeta said she had no complaints from parents about difficulties with communication.