March 4, 2011

MPAC along with the the Sikh Coalition and 12 other organizations sent a letter to Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan and the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI) addressing school bullying in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.

“We strongly support efforts to ensure that Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities meaningfully shape the work of our federal government. We look forward to partnering with ED to ensure our recommendations are realized.”

The letter suggests five recommendations to address bullying in schools: Filing of bullying complaints with the Office of Civil Rights (OCR); increase OCR compliance reviews for school districts with vulnerable AAPI populations; technical assistance and policy guidance activities of OCR and the AAPI community; tracking bullying incidents and data disaggregation; and promote curricula that includes study of world cultures and religions.

The 2009 Indicators of School Crime and Safety found that one-third of teens reported being bullied while at school. MPAC is working to bring an end to bullying and appreciates the opportunity to implementing the foregoing recommendations in collaboration with the Department of Education and our other federal partners.

On April 17 at the Islamic Institute of Orange County, MPAC will host an educational forum about bullying.

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Marium F. Mohiuddin (marium@mpac.org)
Communications Coordinator