AAPI Archives - Safe and Sound Schools

Here at Safe and Sound Schools, we’ve been keeping a close eye on Illinois’ Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History (TEAACH) Act. The legislation will require schools there to teach Asian American history in the US, and is now heading to the governor’s desk. Read on for more details.

Illinois is poised to become the first state to require that public schools teach their students the history of Asian Americans, who have endured an increase in anti-Asian hate crimes amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Illinois Senate passed the Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History Act, known as the TEAACH Act, by a unanimous vote of 57-0 on Tuesday. The legislation, introduced in January by Illinois State Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, D-Glenview, passed the state House in April. The House has to approve a Senate amendment before it will head to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk for his signature.

The bill would require every elementary and high school in the state to devote a unit of curriculum to the history of Asian Americans in the United States, including in Illinois and the Midwest. School districts would have until the start of the 2022-2023 school year to comply.

Read this full article in US News: ‘Illinois Tackles Anti-Asian Hate With the TEAACH Act’

Parents are scared not just of the bullying in school but also of the harassment other adults could direct at their families on the way to school.

A New York City principal said the families of many of her Asian American students have been fearful as heightened levels of anti-Asian sentiment continue alongside the coronavirus pandemic and with violence toward Asian Americans gaining more national attention.

Racist incidents and attacks on members of the Asian community in public have, in part, persuaded some families not to send their children back to in-person schooling, administrators say.

The New York administrator, whose school has a Title I distinction — meaning it has a significant percentage of low-income students — said students’ “fear is real even if they are two blocks away from school.

Read this full article in NBC News: Amid attacks, school principals concerned over Asian Americans’ return to class

For community resources, information, and to report anti-Asian incidents in English and 11 Asian languages, visit Stop AAPI Hate.

Here are some links to resources for families and educators to discuss this issue with students from the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP):