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(July 1, 2009, New York, NY) - At an energetic Manhattan press conference yesterday, the Sikh Coalition and four other advocacy organizations released a Report Card and white paper showing that the New York City Department of Education (DOE) is falling short on its duty to protect public school students from bias-based harassment and bullying.
The Report Card, produced by the Sikh Coalition, the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF) and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), assesses the DOE's progress in enforcing Chancellor's Regulation A-832, which was issued last September at the urging of the Sikh Coalition and our allies, to address student-to-student bias-based harassment. Based on a survey of more than 1,100 students and educators in the city's public schools, the Report Card demonstrates that the Regulation is not being fully implemented.
Among the Report Card's key findings:
- 76% of students do not know they can report bias-based harassment anonymously by emailing respectforall@schools.nyc.gov.
- In 90% of reported incidents of bias-based harassment to school officials, the school did not properly follow the Regulation's protocol for investigation and follow-up.
- 80% of students have not attended a training or presentation to discourage harassment.
"We are concerned that the Chancellor's Regulation is a promise that is not being fulfilled, a piece of paper that is having little impact on city schools," said Sonny Singh, a Community Organizer for the Sikh Coalition. "While the Regulation was a strong step in the right direction, it is not yet being fully implemented and not yet making a difference for the average Sikh, immigrant or gay student."
Click here to see the Report Card and view our full list of recommendations for the DOE.
Sikh Youth Raise their Voices
Full of energy and passion, dozens of Sikh students from Richmond Hill rode on a bus into lower Manhattan to attend yesterday's press conference in front of DOE headquarters. Gurnam Singh, an 8th grader, stated at the press conference, "I have experienced harassment from the day I started at M.S. 72 because I'm a different religion than others… I would love it if the DOE would listen to people like me more often instead of ignoring me."
In between speakers from Queens and Brooklyn schools and organizations such as the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM), and Make the Road NY, Sikh youth spontaneously led the crowd in chants like, "What do we want? Safe schools! When do we want them? Now!"
The rally was well attended by the press, which included the NY Daily News, Metro NY, NPR (WNYC), Fox 5, NBC News, News 12, Gay City News, and several immigrant and non-English language newspapers.
Special thanks to Gurdwara Baba Makhan Shah Lobana, the Sikh Cultural Society, and the Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle of New York for helping arrange transportation and other support for youth participation in the event.
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