Now, almost 50 years later, we can no longer ignore the obvious: that we failed to address many of the issues we faced in the ‘60s and’70s. We have spent an incredible amount of money; developed numerous social, economic, and educational programs; and otherwise tried whatever we thought would bring about major change with members on the lower end of the socioeconomical pyramid, and yet the results show our efforts have been underwhelming. 

We have a lot to lose. Trump issued a racist immigration ban based on religion and skin color. He continues to imperil undocumented students and their families. He threatens to cut critical services that many Americans need to live. The AAPI community needs to be worried—Trump’s agenda makes clear that the rights of people of color are secondary to those of his white constituents. 

A seemingly commonsensical and arguably reasonable statute, the bill drew a significant amount of both backlash and support because of the inherent ramifications it would produce. Congresswoman Butt argued that the current teachings were not age-appropriate and that, at that age, students are not able to discern between indoctrination and learning about what religion teaches. 

The L.A. court decision striking down California teacher tenure laws was financed by the foundation of Silicon Valley millionaire, David Welch, who argued that the laws harm children. If allowed to stand, the court decision, like NCLB, is likely to hurt both students and teachers in two ways. First, it does nothing about the real issues of teacher availability and support. And second, its actual impact has more to do with political power than education.