Mary Conners and the Representation of Koreans and Korean Americans in Social Studies

The following is a small introduction of Mary Conners - an individual attempting to transform the California Framework for the Social Studies:

Mary Connor is President of an organization called Korea Academy for Educators.  She is also a Program Director for seminars and workshops on Korean History and Culture.  She attended every meeting of the development of the new California History/Social Science Framework in 2009. She spoke at every public hearing and brought chairs of Korean Studies Depts (UCLA [John Duncan] and Brigham Young University[Mark Peterson]) to speak on behalf of Korea. She communicated with Koreans and Korean Americans in the Sacramento area to also speak in the public forums. She also asked several Asian Americans to speak to include more Asian American history in the the California Framework. She studied the California Standards and old Framework and found places where information about Korea could be included in the new Framework. She wrote up this information, photocopied it, and spoke in the public forums about what to include about Korean history and culture. She also asked others to speak about this information in the public forums.

All of this worked well as Korea is now in the Framework. It really was democracy in action and indicated the possibilities of being politically involved in the democratic process. Since 2009, she has lobbied for the Framework. IKEN and individuals such as William Min and Sung Kim have assisted KAFE in communicating with the Korean American community to send letters, faxes, and emails to appropriate people in Sacramento. They have all made phone calls. She has also made many phone calls to individuals who are on the staff of the California Dept. of Education. She has communicated with the Korean Consulate General in LA and San Francisco and worked also with the Korean American community in the Silicon Valley/Cupertino/San Jose area.

She has recently communicated with Senator Loni Hancock's office in support of SB 1540. The measure was approved a few weeks ago by the Senate Education Committee. Sometime in May SB1540 will go to the Senate Appropriations Committee. If approved the estimated cost will be $30,000. Given the financial problems of the state, it may not pass. She will ask people to call members of the Senate Appropriations Committee in May, write letters, etc.