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 International, also known as Hanban.
"I
am not against the teaching of foreign languages, but this is a
propaganda machine from the People’s Republic of China that has no
place anywhere in the United States," said John Kramer, 73, a former
superintendent of the district who has been vocal in the debate.
–Ching-Ching Ni in Hacienda Heights
Photo: 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)