For the past four years, I have been working with the Committee of 100, a group of prominent Chinese-Americans focused on the U.S.-China connection, along with the Asia Society and a group of 75 concerned educators to address the need for Asian studies in our classrooms. We are happy to see 35 states working on initiatives to prepare their primary and secondary students to live and work in a global environment, studying the culture, history and language of China–as well as the Middle East, which is just as strategically important. However, we must do more. We are already late to the game. In China, 100 million people speak English and another 100 million are learning it; today only about 50,000 Americans are learning Chinese. Last year, the College Board released a study of high schools across the country that found that 2,400 schools were interested in offering an advanced placement course in Mandarin when it becomes available. Finding qualified teachers, however, remains their biggest hurdle. Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago has made a particularly notable effort to bring Mandarin teachers to the city’s public schools, where more than 3,000 students in some 20 schools are learning the language. But five schools languish on the program’s waiting list, hoping that additional certified teachers will become available.

The Asia Society recently released a report entitled States Prepare for the Global Age, which found that the will to provide more education on international affairs certainly exists. The study found that among 11 states that conducted public surveys on the issue, 97 percent of respondents strongly believed that knowledge about international issues will be important to the careers of young people in their communities. Many states are looking into new curriculum standards that will require global content. Connecticut has established educational partnerships with Shandong province in China, while Oklahoma, Michigan, North Carolina and Kansas are developing partnerships with other Chinese provinces.

Yet, the report found that when it comes to languages, only half of all K-12 students take any language at all, and of these, only 0.16 percent were studying Chinese. An even smaller number–0.04 percent–were learning Arabic.

Where’s Wuhan?
Our work on the Committee of 100 began after the Asia Society released a survey in 2001, that, among other disturbing revelations, found that fully one-quarter of college-bound high school seniors could not name the body of water separating the United States from Asia. They were largely uninformed about Asian-American contributions to our nation’s success. They knew nothing about An Wang, a pioneer in computer technology, or David Ho, whose breakthrough created antiretroviral drugs for treating AIDS. They were largely unaware of the contributions of vast numbers of Asian-Americans in the building of our nation, especially in the Western states. They did not know that the ancient Chinese developed fireworks, paper and pasta.

For me, the importance of teaching Asian languages and studies in our nation’s schools–for the sake of everyone’s future prosperity–ranks right up there with my family as my life’s calling, trumping my various business obligations and standing at the top of my philanthropic to-do list.

But even with concerted effort and substantial funding–neither of which is yet in place–it will take a decade or more to change our school curricula and textbooks. I am always gratified to see projects that schools can use immediately. One of the first fruits of our educational labor is a user-friendly website, hosted by KQED television, the PBS affiliate in San Francisco. The site is free to all and teaches about "Ellis Island West," the Angel Island Immigration Station where so many Chinese entered our nation. Angel Island, in San Francisco Bay, is undergoing refurbishing that is scheduled to be completed this fall. We hope that by providing specialized curricula based on Angel Island, we can provide a new gateway, one that leads to learning more about Asians and the Asian-American experience.

Leslie Tang Schilling is an investment advisor and director of Union Square Investment, a family office in San Francisco.