1. Lau v. Nichols
By: Vincent Norman-Morris

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.