“Asian American history is American history,” is the resounding message students, teachers, parents and others delivered to lawmakers at an Assembly hearing Thursday on a bipartisan bill that would require Wisconsin school boards to provide curriculum on Hmong and Asian Americans.
The hearing, which comes at the end of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, is the first step towards a policy change that has previously stalled in the Legislature. The bill, despite bipartisan support, never received a public hearing in the last legislative session.
Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison), Wisconsin’s first Asian American lawmaker, said in written testimony that the hearing “marks a significant milestone in what has been many years of bipartisan effort to include Hmong Americans and Asian Americans in our education curriculum here in Wisconsin.” She said the effort is one led by students, teachers, community members and legislators who believe that stories and histories of Asian Americans deserve to be told and heard in Wisconsin classrooms.
“It’s not too late to make sure that first graders, like my son George, just embarking on their educational adventure can look forward to lessons that illuminate and celebrate their identities,” Hong said. “One of the fundamental goals of education is to prepare students to become active and engaged citizens in a changing society. I know that this is a goal shared by all of you on this committee. By including information about Hmong Americans and Asian Americans and instruction curriculum, we can provide Wisconsin students with a well-rounded education that reflects the realities of our multicultural state and nation.”
AB 232 would amend a current Wisconsin law that already requires school boards to provide instructional programs designed to give students “an understanding of human relations, particularly with regard to American Indians, Black Americans, and…
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