Lau vs. Nichols

Stacy Miller

What is Lau vs. Nichols?

1974 Supreme Court Case

San Francisco school district

Non-English speaking Chinese students

Lack of a “meaningful” education

“Every student brings to the starting line of his educational

career different advantages and disadvantages caused in part by

social, economic and cultural background, created and

continued completely apart from any contribution by the school

system”

Issue Equality is not achieved by simply providing

facilities, textbooks, teachers, and curriculum to all students.

Students who do not understand English are excluded from any “meaningful” education provided through the public education system.

Possible Solutions Teach English as second language courses.

Providing the same curriculum but in the native language of the student.

“School systems are responsible for assuring that students of a

particular race, color, or national origin are not denied the opportunity to obtain the

education generally obtained by other students in the system.”

Significance Today The amount of diversity and bilingual

students continue to increase.

Today there are previous court cases and laws defending the rights of those students to equal opportunities during their education.

Why did I choose this court case?

Figure 1. Percentage of public school students who are English language learners (ELL), by state: School year 2010-11

Figure 1States Showing At Least A Doubling of Latino Births, 1993-2003

Resources http://www.languagepolicy.net/archives/

lau.htm

http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cgf.asp