The State of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Education in California

Earlier today, California Assemblymember Mike Eng (49th District) and the University of California Asian American and Pacific Islander Policy Multicampus Research Program (UC AAPI Policy MRP) released a newly published report titled, The State of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Education in California.

One of the many reasons that make California special is the fact that it has the largest Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander population in the union. California, of course, has the largest concentration of Filipinos outside the Philippines. Some of the findings of the report pertaining to Filipino Americans in California include:

• 20% of Filipino American students in CA are limited in English proficiency
• 6% of Filipino Americans are living in poverty
• 23% of Filipino Americans have college degrees (BA+)
  
• Of the California students who graduated high school in 2007-08, 3% identified themselves as Filipino
  
• In a 4-year period, 8.6% Filipino American students would drop out of school in grades 9-12
  
• Of all the Filipino American students enrolled in California public colleges and universities, 10% are in University of California (UC), 23% are in California State University (CSU), and the remainder are in California Community Colleges
• About 5% of all California Associate Degrees were awarded to Filipinos American students
• Filipinos alone were awarded 4.5% of Bachelor’s Degrees by the University of California
  
• Less than 1% of school administrators in California are Filipino
• 1.5% of teachers in California are Filipino
• The largest proportions of Asian and Filipino personnel are Classified Professional (12% Asian, 4% Filipino) and Classified Support (9% Asian, 3% Filipino)
  

This report highlights the achievements and challenges of Filipino Americans and other Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander subgroups in public K-12 schools and public post-secondary education, and provides recommendations for policymakers and community advocates. Whether you are a student, parent or educator, of Filipino ancestry or not, the topic couldn't be more important and timely. There has been increasing attention at the federal and state level on the performance of schools and colleges/universities in preparing California's youth for participation in an information-driven economy and in the nation's and state's democratic institutions. The complete report is available here.