The school's director and assistant director are Hmong. So are 11 of 26 classroom teachers. A charter school of the Hmong community, by the Hmong community, for the Hmong community in St. Paul represents the revolution charter schools are supposed to bring to public education. That's an important distinction. The Hmong are America's new immigrants, refugees of the Vietnam War whose arrival shocked not only their value system but that of their Western counterparts.
Respect is important.
Family is a treasure and children are the crown jewels. Religion is very much interwoven in the fabric of life. Koo Vang says. The development of the charter school had been a topic of conversation in the community since the early '90s. Not being Hmong, in this case, means neutrality.