Chinese government's funding of Southland school's language program fuels controversy
A Hacienda Heights school will get free materials -- books, a laptop, playing cards -- from the Confucius Classroom language program. Critics see a propaganda tool, but backers say fears are unfounded
 Ricardo Ramirez, Alexis Perez, Emily Cowan and Rafael Chavez, from left, practice their Chinese. Most students in the class are Latino. (Katie Falkenberg / For The Times / March 25, 2010) |
Most students in the Chinese language class at Cedarlane Middle School in Hacienda Heights have never heard of Confucius.
"Con what?" asked Ricardo Ramirez, 11, who loves to impress classmates with his loud and clear greetings of "Hello!" and "I love you!" in Mandarin.
But a proposal to bring more resources to his school's Chinese program has sparked heated debate over whether the Chinese government -- in the ancient philosopher's name -- should have a role in helping American schoolchildren learn. It's a controversy that lays bare tensions in a community that has undergone a major demographic shift and is now more than a third Asian.
In January, the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District board voted 4 to 1 to adopt a new Chinese language and culture class at Cedarlane next fall, at no cost to the district.
Confucius Classroom is paid for by the Chinese government's Chinese Language Council
"Con what?" asked Ricardo Ramirez, 11, who loves to impress classmates with his loud and clear greetings of "Hello!" and "I love you!" in Mandarin.
But a proposal to bring more resources to his school's Chinese program has sparked heated debate over whether the Chinese government -- in the ancient philosopher's name -- should have a role in helping American schoolchildren learn. It's a controversy that lays bare tensions in a community that has undergone a major demographic shift and is now more than a third Asian.
In January, the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District board voted 4 to 1 to adopt a new Chinese language and culture class at Cedarlane next fall, at no cost to the district.
Confucius Classroom is paid for by the Chinese government's Chinese Language Council
