CONTACT: SHERI ANNIS
(213) 627-2913

April 9, 1998.

Garden Grove, CA--Prominent Asian-American elected officials and community leaders today gathered at a press conference 10:00 am Thursday morning at the Ramada Hotel to endorse Proposition 227, California's "English for the Children" initiative. Participating were: Ho Chung, Garden Grove City Councilman; Tony Lam, Westminster City Councilman; and Julie Sa, Fullerton City Councilwoman. The event was organized by Councilman Chung, and featured statements by Gloria Tuchman and Ron Unz, co-Proponents of Proposition 227.

Although the majority of non-English-speaking children in California public schools are Hispanic, over 200,000 speak one of a number of Asian languages, including Vietnamese, Korean, and Cantonese. According to Prop. 227 Co-Chairman Gloria Tuchman: "I teach English to children from all over the world, who speak many different languages. They all learn English together in my sheltered immersion classroom, making friends and learning about other cultures, instead of being segregated into separate native-language groups as happens under bilingual education. Asian parents want their children to be taught English just as much as Latino parents do."

Two of California's most prominent Asian-American political leaders---State Treasurer Matt Fong and Republican Party Vice-Chairman Bok Pon---were among the earliest supporters of Proposition 227. The two most recent Field Polls have shown Asian support for 227 running at over 6-1, greater than among whites or any other ethnic group in the state. According to Prop. 227 Chairman Ron Unz, "We are especially pleased at the early and overwhelming support which our initiative has received from California's large and rapidly growing Asian-American community."