2. Brief Explanation
1,800 Chinese immigrants were not receiving a proper
education because they could not speak or understand
English.
1970, United States District Court for Northern California
ruled in favor of the school district.
January 8, 1973, United States Apellate Court upheld
ruling.
April 9, 1973, Petition for Certiorari filed.
June 11, 1973 Certiorari granted.
January 21, 1974, Supreme Court Reversed lower
courts ruling.
3. Main Points for Prosecution
Denying Chinese
speaking children a
proper education:
Students perform
poorly in school
Eventually dropout of
school
Find it hard to get and
hold a job
Deny them the chance
to exercise their rights
as citizens
4. Main Points for Prosecution Cont.
Under Brown v. Board of Education,“All children,
regardless of race or ethnic background, had the same
right to an education.”
Because the children were being taught in an unfamiliar
language, attorney Edward Steinman claimed that their
right to an education was violated.
Steinman also claimed that by accepting federal funds,
the school district was obligated to provide services to all
language minority students.
5. Main Points for the Defense
Education is not a right it is a privilege.
The San Francisco Unified school district acknowledged
that they received federal funds to establish a Chinese
bilingual program which served as many students as
possible.
The assistant superintendent explained that accepting
funds did not require the school system to provide
special classes for all Chinese speaking students.
6. How Would I Rule?
If I was the judge of this case I would rule
in favor of the plaintiff because who are
we to deprive those of a certain ethnic
group of rights that we have fought so
hard to obtain?
7. Decision
Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff.
Reasoning behind their ruling were three
requirements of the California code:
English was the basic language used in the classroom.
Students had to prove that they knew English in order to
graduate.
All children between the ages of six and sixteen had to attend
school.
8. Bibliography
McPherson, Stephanie Sammartino . Lau v. Nichols:
Bilingual education in public schools . Berkley
Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2000.
