Anger over racial quotas in schools

THE right to an education, guaranteed by United States law and a cornerstone of the American Dream, is being denied to children of Chinese descent because of racial quotas imposed by schools in San Francisco. That is the contention of a lawsuit filed by the Chinese American Democratic Club (CADC) on July 11. The action, which will likely reach the US Supreme Court, has polarised opinion among academics, politicians and ethnic groups. At question is more than the quality of education in the nation's largest and most wealthy state. Already, Latinos and blacks have abandoned a rocky alliance with Asians. The court suit has also cut a wide schism through the Chinese community itself. The controversy centres on admission quotas at Lowell High School, which has for decades offered the highest level of public education to San Francisco's finest students. Thousands of students apply each year to the non-fee-paying school. With the cost of private education only within reach of the wealthy, Lowell has become the choice for the offspring of upwardly-mobile immigrants. Competition is fierce for the 700 or so places each year. Here, as elsewhere in their adopted home, Asians excel. However, the field has grown so uneven that Chinese residents have finally cried foul over discriminatory education quotas that recall California's repugnant anti-Chinese laws of the early 1900s. To win a place at this favoured institution, Chinese students must score 66 out of 69 points on a scale that balances test results with grades. Whites need to score only 59, while blacks and Latinos gain entry with scores as low as 56. ''To put this in perspective,'' said Amy Chang, who chairs the CADC's education reformation committee, ''a Chinese student has to get straight A's with only one B, or else face rejection. Blacks can get in with D grades.'' ''The pressure on Chinese students is severe and it just isn't fair.'' Fairness, ironically, was utmost on the minds of Chinese leaders and other ethnic groups, which agreed to a landmark settlement of a bitter three-year lawsuit over school segregation in 1982. It defined nine ethnic groups and set a limit of 45 per cent for each in California's public schools, or 40 per cent in special schools like Lowell. Rather than resort to shifting students to different schools, which had resulted in bitter opposition in other American communities, the liberal leaders of California felt they had taken a more progressive approach. As quotas were reached, schools were closed to that ethnic applicant, who voluntarily would seek a new school. The quotas would prevent the formation of educational ghettos. No schools in California would grow too white, too black, too privileged or too poor. That was the hope of a rainbow coalition of racial groups, including leaders of San Francisco's huge Chinese community and the powerful National Association of the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), former allies which have now become adversaries. ''The agreement has been a failure, a flop,'' said Roland Quan, a club leader and graduate of Lowell in 1969. ''In the past decade, the education hasn't got better for Latin Americans, for blacks, for anyone. ''It's a travesty. People immigrate 6,000 miles to get a better education and they cannot even send their kids to the school across the street,'' he said. Indeed, the statistics seem to bear out the criticism. A decade after the decree was issued, education experts found that desegregation had been largely achieved, yet noted that after spending $1.6 billion (HK$12.35 billion) to implement the decree, there was no noticeable improvement in the level of education for the intended minority groups. Several factors undermined the aims of the decree. Firstly, ethnic composition has changed drastically in cities like San Francisco. Americans of Chinese descent comprised under 20 per cent of the student population in 1983. A decade later, the number had increased to 25 per cent. Meanwhile, as Asian and other immigrants continued to move to San Francisco, white families fled the city for the suburbs and private education. As few Chinese students leave the area, the quota means their diligence is rewarded with an even slimmer share of the Lowell entry slots. Chinese students have the lowest acceptance rate of all racial groups at Lowell, despite recording the highest test scores. Only 35 per cent of Chinese applicants were offered places for the 1993-94 school year, compared with 45 per cent for blacks and 62 per cent for whites. The CADC estimates that three dozen schools in San Francisco are currently closed to Chinese registration because of the quotas. And the eyes of the nation are on the legal challenge to the quota system, which is unique to California. In New York City, for instance, Asians comprise more than 50 per cent of the student body at prestigious Stuyvesant High School, yet the Asian population of the city is under 10 per cent. The San Francisco school board responded to concerns over its quotas in a most questionable manner: by revising the testing procedure and by emphasising language skills which made the tests more difficult for Chinese students last year. Some Chinese protested and the board responded with an additional 153 places for Chinese students at Lowell. However, this concession merely ignited the outrage of the NAACP, which fought for additional slots for other minorities. ''The laws need to change, and these quotas must end,'' said Lillian Hung, a Hong Kong emigrant with a 14-year-old son who was rejected by Lowell because of the quota system. ''He's a good student and we make him study hard. But for what?'' The lawsuit, against the state and city school boards, names three Chinese students and their parents, including a couple from Hong Kong. ''We didn't file this suit frivolously,'' Ms Chang said. ''The quotas are racist, plain and simple. And the victims are children.'' But while many Chinese groups support the suit, an original signatory to the 1983 decree, the Chinese for Affirmative Action, is opposed to it. And the lawsuit has many ethnic twists of its own. The president of the board, which includes Chinese and Puerto Rican members, is a Latino, Waldemar J. Rojas. And, sitting in the hot seat as president of the elected board of education, is Dr Leland Yee, a child psychologist who emigrated from Hong Kong. ''This is a most uncomfortable position,'' Dr Yee admitted. ''I understand the issues and am not unsympathetic, but the quotas are there for a reason. ''The issue isn't just test scores and academic achievement, but the kind of education we want our kids to have in America. This is about a wider education, and exposing young people to social factors. ''In this society, the scenarios of hate and violence we have so often seen come from a lack of understanding of other ethnic groups. This is an important element of school, to break this pattern of mistrust.'' DR YEE acknowledged that if there were no quotas, the composition of Lowell might easily soar to 80 per cent Chinese. ''But it's not as simple as letting free-market conditions dictate the racial mix of a school.'' He believed the real issue is better education for all children. He said the city planned a variety of solutions, including the opening next year of another high-level academic institution like Lowell. However, Ms Chang countered that the new school, which has not even been named yet, is already oversubscribed by Chinese applicants, while slots still remain for other ethnic groups. She said the new school will only duplicate the existing problems. And despite liberal spending by the liberal school board, San Francisco was still placed a dismal 54th among the state's 57 counties in recent testing of student achievement - which is why the CADC is no longer willing to compromise on quotas. Lawyers for the defendants declined to comment on specifics of the suit, saying they have yet to be served with it. However, Barry Zolotar, an attorney with the state Department of Education, said: ''The Chinese American Democratic Club is having its 15 minutes of fame right now, that's all. ''They have dug the trenches, then we will get down with them and slug it out.'' Senator Quentin Kopp, a long-time ally of the Chinese community, said: ''The admirable values of individual effort, diligence and merit are under siege by a policy which discounts objective criteria, such as test scores and grades, for a failed experiment in social engineering.'' ''This lawsuit is not about getting a few Chinese American children into Lowell,'' said Ms Chang, ''but to guarantee all children in San Francisco access to public schools free from discrimination. ''After all, this is America.''