“We are invisible” – Ackerman listens to concerns of Cambodian Community

By Sarim Ngo

“When I came to this country two years ago, I came for a better opportunity and an education,” Chamroeun Son said in a shaky voice.

“I didn’t think I would have to worry about getting beat up or getting robbed at school.”

As his voice began to tremble more noticeably, he bowed his head to compose himself before continuing.

“The Vietnamese kids have a counselor they can talk to,” Son said. “But the Khmer [Cambodian] students have no one.”

Son, a senior at Northeast High School, was one of seven students who shared his frustrations with the Philadelphia School District to Superintendent Arlene Ackerman – and a crowd of more than 150 concern Cambodian Americans – Wednesday evening.

Ackerman and her senior staff attended the town hall meeting at the Preah Buddha Rangsey Temple to discuss retention rates, truancy, bullying and violence against Asian students— particularly Cambodians.

Sarun Chan, member of the Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia (CAGP), said there is a lack of resources for Cambodian students. Cambodians, who have a distinct cultural background, are merely seen as ‘Asian’ by the school district.

Stereotypes that Asians excel academically do not reflect realities within the Cambodian community, Chan said.

“Right now we are invisible. We are stuck in statistics and stereotypes that categorize us as “Asian.” We must recognize the cultural and language differences within the Asian community,” Chan said.

According to the Philadelphia School Network study conducted by John Hopkins University and the University of Pennsylvania, nearly 12 percent of Asian students drop out of school. Chan said while it is not divided into subgroups, he believes a majority of the percentage is of Cambodian students.

In comparison to other Asians like Chinese and Koreans, who have been around for hundreds of years, Cambodians immigrated to America beginning in the 1980s. Many Cambodian families resettled in America as a result of the Khmer Rouge regime. Because they are the newer immigrants, Chan said many, including teachers and staff know very little about the needs and wants of the Cambodian students.

As a solution, Rorng Sorn, executive director of CAGP, said everyone must work together.

“When one part of the community is not doing well, the entire community is not doing well,” Sorn said.

Sorn asked Ackerman to take steps to hire more Cambodian administrators within the school district.

Son said he wished he had a Cambodian counselor at his school.

“There were days when we didn’t have school, but I still went anyway not knowing,” Son, laughing at himself, said. “There was no one to tell me there was no school that day. It happened like twice already.”
Sorn also asked Ackerman to critique the English as Second Language programs.

Sorn said Asian students are often put into ESOL simply because they are Asian. Instead of helping students, ESOL classes become apart of the problem. She said students are usually taken out of their normal classes and are given less challenging work. She said ESOL classes make it harder for students to assimilate and excel academically.
After listening to the concerns of the Cambodian community for an hour and a half, Ackerman stood to address the crowd.

“We are in this together,” Ackerman said. “School needs to be the hub of the community. I will do my best because I give to other people’s children only what I want for my own children.”