South Asian languages are an essential part of the Bay Area's cultural heritage, yet opportunities to study languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Punjabi, Bengali, Telugu, Gujarati, and Urdu remain limited in schools. While California celebrates its linguistic diversity, its language programs must better reflect the communities they serve and the over 1 million South Asians in the state. 

This petition calls on school districts in the San Jose area and Bay Area legislators to expand South Asian language courses, establish dual-language immersion programs, and advance legislation that makes multilingual education more accessible.

 By signing, you indicate support for legislative efforts such as:

• More school districts enacting legislation similar to Santa Clara County Board of Education Resolution No. 2448-5: Support to pilot and create South Asian language courses in schools that satisfy World Language requirements (elementary, middle, and highs schools).
• California AB 2325: Establishes the Pathways to Bilingual Teaching Program to incentivize bilingual education, awarding competitive grants of up to $600,000 to school districts and partnering with four-year colleges to expand bilingual teacher-training pathways that also include South Asian Languages.
• Revival and Alteration of California AB 865 to include South Asian Languages: Incentivize the adoption of dual language immersion models in schools, allocating $5 million to the development of instructional and educational materials that embrace diversity. 
  
  
  

Fremont Unified School District has already demonstrated what is possible by becoming California’s first public school district to pilot Hindi as a world language elective in select schools. Now, it's time to make that a standard. Sign this petition to help turn that vision into lasting policy, and celebrate the beauty and preservation of South Asian languages. 

Please visit @genup.sunnyvale on Instagram to learn more about our initiatives.