A VOICE FOR ASIAN AMERICANS  

I am running for New York State Assembly District 49 because I was born and raised in New York City and I care deeply about the people who live there and the issues they face.  Asian Americans have a small voice and presence in the City and I am running to be that voice and ensure that problems affecting our community are addressed.

EDUCATION   

I am appalled at how the NYC Department of Education is trying to harm our education system. Growing up as immigrants, we didn’t have much material wealth, but we had good educational opportunities. My family knew education was one way to achieve the status of the middle class. Families raise in this district have these same goals and aspirations for the best opportunities for their children, I will fight to preserved current criteria for enrollment of specialized high schools on merit-based and testing.

  • The Education Investment Tax Credit will provide more choices to families who are not happy with local public schools, for whatever reason they have. Alleviating the financial burden, so tuition-paying families get credit for some of the taxes they pay, will be my number one priority.  Parents need real choices because children learn differently. Getting everyone, including those who can’t afford private school, the best possible educational opportunities, is the best investment we can make in our children. 

 

  • Merit-based admission to Special High Schools. I will fight to preserve the current admissions criteria and the demanding curricula of our city’s top-tier magnet high schools. Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, and Brooklyn Tech have provided excellent education to generations of academically talented New York teenagers, and especially to the smart children of immigrants.  These schools prepared to send gifted and talented children, to highly competitive and selective universities.  Merit-based academic tests should NOT be changed.

 

  • School Choice—Lifting The Cap On Charter Schools. There was a time when New York City public schools were the best in the nation. That lasted until political changes in the late 1970s, which lowered standards.  We are living with the results: many failing schools at all levels.  Too many children are stuck in those schools, where little learning goes on. The best way to create and maintain excellent educational institutions is for educators outside of the traditional education establishment’ to build and run them. Some Charter Schools in New York City have demonstrated an ability to truly educate minority children who rarely succeed in public schools. Others provide special types of education that appeal to families and students.  There is no reason, except for political control, to prevent the creation of more charter schools. I will call for 50 new ones in the next few years in my first week in Albany.

 

JOBS AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

All New Yorkers need a vibrant, economically growing city, that produces jobs and revenue. The pandemic retards growth and restricts business opportunities.  I will support expanding sales-tax-free clothing limits to $250, provide additional forgivable loans to small businesses in targeted communities.

VETERANS REPRESENTATION

There are approximately 250,000 veterans lives in the 5 boroughs, as an Afghan war veteran, I will represent the voice and advocate for our veterans, such as expanding veteran services, preventing homeless, provide drug/alcohol addiction treatment, promote mental health services, expand veteran preference when hiring by city agencies, and promote employer payroll tax credit when hiring disabled veterans.

On November 8th. vote in the
General Election for Lester Chang
for New York State Assembly

District # 49