Hacienda La Puente Unified School District’s Confucius Classroom Leads to School Board Recall Effort

By Tina | Thursday, February 17, 2011 | 35 Comments

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Rudy Obad 600x401 Hacienda La Puente Unified School Districts Confucius Classroom Leads to School Board Recall Effort

By Tina Tsai

Last year on The Daily Show, Aasif Mandvi did a short satire piece on the Confucius Classroom controversy in the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District. Hacienda Heights, CA is a heavily Asian Pacific Islander American community, and it is my hometown. After watching the national news on it all over TV, I had to go see what was going on with my own eyes.

I started to attend district school board meetings regularly, and I was horrified at what I witnessed first-hand. I had no idea there was that much anti-Chinese antagonism in our community. The general meeting environment is just downright abusive — people, some from our neighborhood and some not, are publicly attacking our elected district board members, accusing them of being Chinese Communists, insulting their intelligence, disrespecting them as individuals and as citizens of this country, and making groundless accusations that they are improperly using district funds. At the first meeting I went to, these accusations were all based on “rumors.”

To make matters worse, when students got up to speak of their own free will and present very well organized and intelligent arguments, they were being called “Red Guard” and told to be ashamed of themselves and accused of being “brainwashed.” Not only that, a very rude individual named Kai Chen – often quoted in the news on this issue and was even interviewed on Fox News — interrupted student speaker Alan Lin by yelling the very racist remark “Tainted with lead!” If these people are there to protect American youth from Communist brainwashing, why are they being so very abusive to the very students they claim to protect?

I spoke up at some of the meetings. Here is the first speech I made at the second meeting I attended, after the jump.

Good evening everyone. My name is Tina Tsai. I graduated from Los Altos High School, and I taught for four years as a teacher in this school district at Cedarlane Middle School and at Los Molinos Elementary School. I was present at the last meeting in June, and I wanted to speak today in response to what I heard at that meeting.

First of all, I was very impressed by the students who spoke at the last meeting. I commend their interest and involvement in their community and their own education. They embody courage, intelligence, and the spirit of American democracy. I’m happy to see them back here to speak again tonight, and I feel privileged to have been able to help Mr. Jeffrey Tso and Mr. Alan Lin by giving them constructive criticism and feedback on their arguments in preparation for their speeches tonight. As an American citizen and a California Credentialed Teacher, I think I have a right to “coach” our American youth.

This room, this building, and this meeting would not even exist if the students were not in the schools of this district learning and growing. It is wonderful to have student representation at a District Board Meeting. Unfortunately, many adult speakers at the previous meeting exhibited some poor examples of American democracy for our youth.

At the last meeting, I witnessed an adult man interrupting one of the student speakers with an extremely rude and racist remark, encroaching upon that student’s time to speak. In America, we believe in freedom of speech and the importance of giving everyone a chance to talk. In America, we embrace diversity and we do not tolerate racism.

At the last meeting, I witnessed adults making groundless accusations and poorly constructed arguments with little or no factual proof. Many spoke out in anger based on “rumors”. In America, everyone has the right to speak and share their opinion, but wasting the time of public officials with childish tantrums based on rumors is being an irresponsible citizen. In America, we value diligence, responsibility, and doing your homework. We are the hardest working country in the world.

At the last meeting, I witnessed adults showing a gross lack of knowledge and understanding of our world. Understanding China and its history, culture, religion, and language is a California state standard based of the History-Social Science Framework published by the California Department of Education. Learning about Confucius and Confucianism is required in standards 6.6 and 7.3. If you don’t know who Confucius is or the basic concepts of Confucianism, then you have failed to meet the California standards for 6th and 7th grade.

Further, if you know anything about communism in China, you would know that the rise of communism in the last half of the 20th century served at one point to destroy and reject much of traditional Chinese culture, especially Confucianism. Teaching students about Chinese culture and history is inherently an anti-communist act. Thank you for your time.

After being criticized for not having any substantial evidence, some of opposition eventually brought some sort of paperwork records, but if those were actually verifiable, there would be no need to come yelling about it at the district meetings. A simple call to the Teacher’s Union or the local sheriff would have been enough to settle matters, right? They still persist is making such accusations today. Stealing from taxpayers is against the law last I checked, so if they’ve got hard evidence, the sheriff is just down the street!

Last Thursday February 10, 2011, they submitted a petition to recall four of the five district board members, which includes all three of the API heritage district board members. The community of students, residents, parents, and teachers has started a counter-petition to reject the recall.

Note that the petition states that several of the opponents that are trying to recall our elected representatives do not live in our district and most do not even have students that go to our district schools. This means anyone can sign OUR petition for OUR school district, so spread the word!

Bio: Tina Tsai, Ph.D. is a writer, teacher, and founder of The Literacy Guild LLC. She and her students write and publish their work. Her debut teen kung fu romance novel The Legend of Phoenix Mountain is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

(Image credit: Jay Chen)

Categories:

DiscriminationEducationObservationsSouthern California

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Facebook Comments (Beta)

Danny_Ahmed

I worry about this type of anger based on groundless or semi-factual rumours. However, I worry more about the increasing number of intellectual bigotry, those using science and sophisticated sentance construction and rhetoric (being good with words) to support certain questionable attitudes.

I’m all for speaking your mind, and I can understand the problems of being too political correct, but I think people can be more well-mannered.

In my experience, people who are passionate about topics but based it on fear, misinformation or bigotry tend to not care whatever sufficient evidence others bring to counter those attitudes. So, I hope you all can defeat the petition. Forget what those angry people think.

If there is another meeting, let me know. I only have to drive 15 minutes away from Hacienda Heights from my home.
KojiStevenSakai

Being from San Gabriel Valley, I see this all the time. Non API like API in that they make the schools more academically prestigious but they don’t like them in other ways. In my time, it was that the Asians studided to hard and made it tough on them.
http://tinabot.blogspot.com/ TinaTsai

@KojiStevenSakai Seriously. I wish they would stop treating us like test score cows.

When the Hsi Lai Buddhist Temple (largest Buddhist temple in the western hemisphere) was going to be built, apparently people were afraid of there being animal sacrifices. Animal sacrifices…at a Buddhist temple…Buddhism values all life and encourages vegetarianism…astounding. Maybe we need to have a big sign in town that says “Think before you speak” in glimmering Vegas lights.

Also, in some of the comments on articles about this situation over this in the past year, one person said something ridiculous like “China has been buying up the land in this area. You can tell by all the businesses with Chinese signs now. They’re taking over.” My family and many of our friends and community members own commercial and residential properties as well as businesses in the area. News flash, we’re all American. I found that highly offensive.

Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language in America and Chinese is the third. If English, a language from England, can be an American language, then so can Spanish and Chinese.
http://tinabot.blogspot.com/ TinaTsai

@Danny_Ahmed The next meeting is on Thursday February 24th from 7:30 to 9pm-ish.

Hacienda la Puente Unified School District
15959 Gale Ave, Industry, CA
(626) 933-1000

I highly encourage people to come if only to bear witness to what is happening.

It’s amazing how we’ve clearly confirmed that it is an American California Credentialed teacher who will be teaching the class, and yet they keep claiming that the district going to China to get teachers. Blatantly ignoring the facts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3G7Hv6pqX8&feature=player_embedded

It’s actually embarassing just to attend those meetings as an adult and to have students from the district see adults make such fools of themselves and set such horrible examples for them.

My question is would they be accusing the school board of being Chinese Communists if they were all Caucasian? Sadly, I think the answer is no.
http://tinabot.blogspot.com/ TinaTsai

Here is my “Case for Confucius Classroom” published on Asian Week.

http://www.asianweek.com/2011/02/17/the-case-for-confucius-classrooms/
raymonst

ok, who is this “kai chen” person and why is this loonboon allowed to spout such nonsense?
http://thylacine.livejournal.com/ ErikaHarada

@TinaTsai @KojiStevenSakai Animal sacrifices?! LOL. I can see why the same people would probably be jealous of us for our superior intellect (kidding, of course).

People are idiots.
http://tinabot.blogspot.com/ TinaTsai

@raymonst Kai Chen accuses Jay Chen of using the students in politics when Kai Chen is the one being verbally abusive to the kids and then turning around and saying he’s doing all this to protect them from communism. Who’s really using the students for personal political gain?

Jay Chen is the president of the HLPUSD school board. Of course he works with the students, but those kids aren’t mindlessly supporting him. They support him because he supports them with his efforts as a community elected official. He runs college application workshops and constantly visits schools and attends community events. The students aren’t being stupid about this. They see the facts and evidence and are coming to their own decisions on who to support.

Last I checked, the students of this school district that are aware of the situation can’t stand Kai Chen and they support Jay Chen, Norman Hsu, Dr. Joseph Chang, and Anita Perez. Many of them have signed the petition against this ridiculous recall.
http://tinabot.blogspot.com/ TinaTsai

@ErikaHarada @KojiStevenSakai lol they make us look like geniuses when they keep saying such ignorant things.
Danny_Ahmed

I’m trying to understand here.
Are the students forced to learn, like is it part of the curriculum or is it an extracurriculuar option?
Danny_Ahmed

@TinaTsai @KojiStevenSakai lol, maybe we should screw around with their fears, saying in the near future, Americans will be speaking a hybrid language of English and like a dozen other languages.

Just kidding.
Danny_Ahmed

@TinaTsai @ lol, we should screw around with their fears, saying casually how in the near future, Americans will be speaking a hybrid language that won’t be close to English, haha. Or more controversial, most Americans are going to be of multi-heritages rather than just one or two.

Just kidding, Just kidding.
http://tinabot.blogspot.com/ TinaTsai

@Danny_Ahmed lol actually, surprisingly not too far from the truth.

English is quite a bloated language, having picked up words from almost every language on the planet along the centuries. Just a few years ago qigong and manga were added to the American English dictionary. The word ketchup is often etymologically attributed to a Malaysian word for fish sauce or is possible of some Chinese dialect origin.

They’re already speaking Asian languages over every lunch counter in America and they don’t even know it ^O^
http://tinabot.blogspot.com/ TinaTsai

@Danny_Ahmed The class is completely optional. Great question.
http://tinabot.blogspot.com/ TinaTsai

@Danny_Ahmed CORRECTION: Next Meeting is TUESDAY FEB 22, 2011
http://tinabot.blogspot.com/ TinaTsai

@Danny_Ahmed
The next meeting is on Tuesday February 22th from 7:30 to 9pm-ish.

Hacienda la Puente Unified School District
15959 Gale Ave, Industry, CA
(626) 933-1000

I highly encourage people to come if only to bear witness to what is happening.
It’s amazing how we’ve clearly confirmed that it is an American California Credentialed teacher who will be teaching the class, and yet they keep claiming that the district going to China to get teachers. Blatantly ignoring the facts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3G7Hv6pqX8&feature=player_embedded

It’s actually embarassing just to attend those meetings as an adult and to have students from the district see adults make such fools of themselves and set such horrible examples for them.

My question is would they be accusing the school board of being Chinese Communists if they were all Caucasian? Sadly, I think the answer is no.
Danny_Ahmed

@TinaTsai In my short (but significant) life experiences of dealing with people, all it takes is just one small grain of truth to support any major assumptions. For example, some people can ignore all the other truths and simply rely on the fact that the program is supported by China’s government, as a reason to not want it.
http://tinabot.blogspot.com/ TinaTsai

@Danny_Ahmed self-deceit is a self-inflicted curse of humanity
Danny_Ahmed

@TinaTsai @Danny_Ahmed So Sorry Tina, I didn’t stay longer.

I really went to the lobby or receptionist desk around 7:10, and there were people walking in and out. I saw a guy with the camera. I don’t know if anyone noticed, but I was the guy wearing a green PUMA hoodie. I was there like for a few minutes.
http://tinabot.blogspot.com/ TinaTsai

@Danny_Ahmed No worries. Thanks for coming out! Usually the action happens between 7:30 and 8 when people are speaking. I’ll be at the March 17 one.
AndrewFungYip

@TinaTsai @Danny_Ahmed I think I saw you! I was the Asian guy with glasses sitting next to Rudy Obad. LOL.

I have upload recordings of the meeting:
http://www.youtube.com/user/hhforprogress#p/u/3/GsiyU6jzhdE

I hope to raise awareness of the issue. It seems like Rudy Obad sort of moved away from the Confucious Classroom issue and is just attacking the board members over spending. I guess he and the rest of the gang realized that most people are supporting the program so they have decided to attack the board members.
AndrewFungYip

@TinaTsai @Danny_Ahmed May I add, you should come at around 7-7:15 to sign a call card so they you can speak during the meeting. You have 3 minutes to talk. I came a little late so I was unable to speak but I got a feel of what’s going on and made some recordings.
Danny_Ahmed

@AndrewFungYip @TinaTsai I see what you mean. If students are not forced to learn such materials, I honestly can not see what is the big deal. The Communists today are not the same as before, and brainwashing is quite a loose term that can be applied to many different situations.

The spending on personal trips is another matter. However, I read how the D.A. is already looking into this and will clarify whatever discrepancies there are. Any legal problems will be known sooner or later.
http://tinabot.blogspot.com/ TinaTsai

@Danny_Ahmed @AndrewFungYip absolutely. It’s good and right that we should keep public officials under a watchful eye and maintain transparency. No American is above the law, not even the president. That’s what I learned in American public schools.

The citizens bringing it up are just doing it in a horribly irresponsible way. They’re just looking for an excuse to badger certain board members and not applying that scrutiny across the board at every board member.
http://tinabot.blogspot.com/ TinaTsai

@AndrewFungYip @Danny_Ahmed Thanks Andrew for mentioning that! Yes, you can speak, too if you sign in with the front desk at 7pm. ^_^
AndrewFungYip

@TinaTsai @Danny_Ahmed Agreed, they can agree to disagree but it seems like they have agreed to disagree plus shout and personally attack anyone who disagrees. I wouldn’t care so much about the issue itself but I was concerned that we have nuts going about attacking our students. If they have beef with our board, they can wait for the election coming up and if they want to get Hsu arrested for misuse of public funds, then the DA will investigate which they are doing and hopefully they will determine whether there are any misuse of funds. I think it is legitimate that they have concerns over funds but let’s have the appropriate authorities investigate and not a random bunch of people making accusations not just about the actions but personal attacks after another.
http://tinabot.blogspot.com TinaTsai

@AndrewFungYip @Danny_Ahmed Andrew, the audio you put up with the text is great! For those you who can’t make the meetings because of geography or time, you can hear for yourself what’s going on.

Rudy Obad is definitely changing his angle of attack. I really think he’s just grabbing for any reason to attack the board now. I’d like to think that he’s genuinely concerned for the community, but even if that’s true, he’s definitely NOT doing this the right way. His method is very biased and immature.

You’re absolutely right about Cedarlane. I taught at Cedarlane Middle School for 3 years and a majority of the students are Hispanic and Latino heritage, and the parents and students there WANT to have the Confucius Classroom.

Norman Hsu has been on the district board and connected with our community for over two decades. I even remember his campaign from back when I was in middle school.

Dr. Joseph Chang shook my hand when I graduated from Los Altos High School and was the one who convinced my parents to let me go to the “unknown” school Claremont McKenna College (my first choice), vouching for it as a great school.

Jay Chen is a Navy reserve officer and a graduate from Wilson High School in our district (I’ll forgive him for graduating from my rival high school). He runs free college application workshops that help high school students in the community get into the best schools they can.

I’m sure these three board members are not perfect human beings, but they have been working very hard to serve our community and they are members of our community, not Communist Chinese agents. They are Americans.

If they were really after power and big bucks, why would they be at a small school district in an unknown suburb of Los Angeles County?

Not to mention, I believe Jay Chen and Dr. Joseph Chang are Taiwanese heritage Americans. Taiwan is about as anti-communist China as you can get. Accusing Taiwanese Americans of being Communist Chinese is about as stupid as accusing Obama of being a Nazi.
http://tinabot.blogspot.com TinaTsai

@AndrewFungYip @Danny_Ahmed Andrew, the audio you put up with the text is great! For those you who can’t make the meetings because of geography or time, you can hear for yourself what’s going on.

Rudy Obad is definitely changing his angle of attack. I really think he’s just grabbing for any reason to attack the board now. I’d like to think that he’s genuinely concerned for the community, but even if that’s true, he’s definitely NOT doing this the right way. His method is very biased and immature.

You’re absolutely right about Cedarlane. I taught at Cedarlane Middle School for 3 years and a majority of the students are Hispanic and Latino heritage, and the parents and students there WANT to have the Confucius Classroom.

Norman Hsu has been on the district board and connected with our community for over two decades. I even remember his campaign from back when I was in middle school.

Dr. Joseph Chang shook my hand when I graduated from Los Altos High School and was the one who convinced my parents to let me go to the “unknown” school Claremont McKenna College (my first choice), vouching for it as a great school.

Jay Chen is a Navy reserve officer and a graduate from Wilson High School in our district (I’ll forgive him for graduating from my rival high school). He runs free college application workshops that help high school students in the community get into the best schools they can.

I’m sure these three board members are not perfect human beings, but they have been working very hard to serve our community and they are members of our community, not Communist Chinese agents. They are Americans.

If they were really after power and big bucks, why would they be at a small school district in an unknown suburb of Los Angeles County?

Not to mention, I believe Jay Chen and Dr. Joseph Chang are Taiwanese heritage Americans. Taiwan is about as anti-communist China as you can get. Accusing Taiwanese Americans of being Communist Chinese is about as stupid as accusing Obama of being a Nazi.
http://tinabot.blogspot.com/ TinaTsai

@AndrewFungYip @Danny_Ahmed Andrew, the audio you put up with the text is great! For those you who can’t make the meetings because of geography or time, you can hear for yourself what’s going on.

Rudy Obad is definitely changing his angle of attack. I really think he’s just grabbing for any reason to attack the board now. I’d like to think that he’s genuinely concerned for the community, but even if that’s true, he’s definitely NOT doing this the right way. His method is very biased and immature.

You’re absolutely right about Cedarlane. I taught at Cedarlane Middle School for 3 years and a majority of the students are Hispanic and Latino heritage, and the parents and students there WANT to have the Confucius Classroom.

Norman Hsu has been on the district board and connected with our community for over two decades. I even remember his campaign from back when I was in middle school.

Dr. Joseph Chang shook my hand when I graduated from Los Altos High School and was the one who convinced my parents to let me go to the “unknown” school Claremont McKenna College (my first choice), vouching for it as a great school.

Jay Chen is a Navy reserve officer and a graduate from Wilson High School in our district (I’ll forgive him for graduating from my rival high school). He runs free college application workshops that help high school students in the community get into the best schools they can.

I’m sure these three board members are not perfect human beings, but they have been working very hard to serve our community and they are members of our community, not Communist Chinese agents. They are Americans.

If they were really after power and big bucks, why would they be at a small school district in an unknown suburb of Los Angeles County?

Not to mention, I believe Jay Chen and Dr. Joseph Chang are Taiwanese heritage Americans. Taiwan is about as anti-communist China as you can get. Accusing Taiwanese Americans of being Communist Chinese is about as stupid as accusing Obama of being a Nazi.
http://tinabot.blogspot.com/ TinaTsai

@AndrewFungYip @TinaTsai @Danny_Ahmed
I was LIVID when they started to attack the kids. Calling them Red Guard and Communist lackeys and interupting them while they made their speeches! I wanna rip my hair out just remembering it.

If the kids had been White, it’s said to say that I know the White kids wouldn’t have been so accused.

Rudy Obad was yelling at them that they should be Americans not Chinese, and I’m like “How can they feel a part of this country when you call them Red Guard Communist dogs? How can they feel you recognize them as fellow citizens when you’re clearly attacking the API board members and anyone on their side?”

I think I’ve found my next speech content.
AndrewFungYip

@TinaTsai @Danny_Ahmed Can you post some of these comments as replies to the videos? Sorry for asking so much, haha, I just want other people’s opinions and views posted so others watching the videos and listening to the recordings can see it as well.

And yes, I became much interested in what’s actually going on in the meetings than the issue itself because quite honestly, the programs going to be here. I was just angry and upset at the fact that students were being ridiculed and wow, I was just shocked at how people can make such baseless accusations. I’m really impressed with Jeffrey, one of the students from Wilson that spoke and I’m sure most if not all the students that spoke are just as brave and intellegent.
Danny_Ahmed

@TinaTsai @AndrewFungYip lol, sorry Tina if this sounds like an attack on you, but did you mispelled those words on purpose? Like you’re trying to make a pun of some sorts?
http://tinabot.blogspot.com/ TinaTsai

@Danny_Ahmed @AndrewFungYip lol I was just rushed and made a lot of typos ^O^
http://tinabot.blogspot.com/ TinaTsai

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCKKaHMBiMc
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