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U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal and the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center announced the reintroduction of the All Students Count Act in a Zoom news conference Thursday morning.
The bill, which would require more comprehensive disaggregation of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander student data, aims to ensure that the diverse needs of underrepresented AANHPI communities are better accounted for and supported across the country.
“Factual data is critical to decision-making,” Hirono said. “If we can get much more factual information within the AANHPI community, made up of Samoans, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, so many other Southeast Asians and so many other groups … that would enable us to not just lump everybody together in the AANHPI grouping, but to have a much better awareness of what those particular needs are.”
Hirono previously introduced similar legislation in 2015, but it was two votes shy of passing, said SEARAC Executive Director Quyen Dinh. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has since heightened disparities among AANHPI groups, particularly in schools, and further highlighting the need for more disaggregated data on specific populations in order to determine their individual needs, Hirono said.
Jayapal pointed out that there is also an overly broad labeling that Asian populations generally succeed in school, perpetuating a “dangerous” stereotype.
“It also perpetuates this racial wedge that minimizes the challenge that so many of our communities face,” Jayapal said.
Following remarks by Hirono and Jayapal, a lineup of AANHPI organizations and groups shared their reasons for supporting the bill, some of which have already seen smaller yet similar initiatives benefit their own local communities.
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