A public hearing was held at the Queens Presbyterian Church in Flushing on October 4, exploring the introduction of Korean-American bilingual education in New York public schools.

The New York Korean-American Parents Association hosted the event inviting experts from the New York City Department of Education, teachers and parents. Councilman John Liu, Dr. Florence Pu-Folkes, Director Asian Language Bilingual Education Technical Assistance Center, and Hyun-joo Kwon, Korean resource specialist, and a teacher from Stuyvesant High School, served as panelists. They discussed the necessity for bilingual education as well as the present condition of bilingual education in cities such as New York and Los Angeles where Korean-American students are concentrated.

“Korean-English bilingual education must emphasize both languages. We believe that both languages are very important for our children, and we want intensive instruction for both languages in our city schools,” said Yun-hee Kim, the chairman of the Korean American Parents Association.

“Our research shows that a student who also learns another language doesn’t lose his or her English language ability. Students choose the language they want to learn, and receive instruction in the bilingual classroom setting, which provides a deeper language education than usual,” said Dr. Florence Pu-Folkes.

Before the hearing the audience viewed a video about a Los Angeles Korean-American bilingual classroom, describing the issues related to bilingual students and education.

“In Los Angeles there are almost 600 Korean students currently involved in the bilingual language programs, ranging from kindergarten to high school. Five years ago New York City began a Chinese-English bilingual school with only 40 students. Today there are over 320 students in the program,” said Hyun-joo Kwon.

“New York City has already budgeted $20 million for bilingual education. The Korean American Parents Association should now become positively involved at the policy-making level for bilingual education, and should push for the opening of a Korean-English bilingual high school by September 2004,” said Councilman Liu.

A question and answer session followed the presentation by the panelists. The questions primarily addressed the management of a bilingual school. What management system should be used, how many students and teachers could be enrolled, what qualifications the teachers need, and so on. The panelists responded that bilingual education followed the existing New York State curriculum. At least 50 students must be enrolled in the school and will be taught by teachers licensed in both Korean and English instruction.