Education

Supporting the education of children and teens in their community was a core focus of the YLP since its inception. During the pilot YLP Summer Institute, held for six weeks in the summer of 1995, high school and college-aged Southeast Asian youths tutored elementary school children in math and English for four weeks of the program. This tutoring program for the youngest members of the community became a regular feature of the YLP Summer Institutes over the next decade due to the systemic neglect of Southeast Asian students in New York public schools.

The Spring 2002 issue of the Voice reported:

“A survey conducted by the youth organizers reveals that Southeast Asian children have the highest per capita ‘held-back,’ or unable to advance to the next grade level, rates of any race or ethnic group. The reasons for this are multiple: schools fail to inform Southeast Asian parents of programs that can help their children, many children are racially profiled into ESL classes, learning disabilities and faulty learning environments are ignored, and finally, there are no programs that meet the specific cultural and linguistic needs of refugee children and families.”

Starting in 2000, the YLP challenged Community School District 10 in the Bronx to address the extremely high rate of Southeast Asian children held back in their grade. By spring of 2002, YLP was successful in securing funds from the district to start an achievement program specifically tailored to the needs and strengths of Southeast Asian elementrary school children. However, during major structural changes to New York's public school system in 2003, the district failed to renew the program's funding.