In the landmark 1974 case the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that non-English speaking students who need additional English instruction must be granted that instruction according to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Claremont, CA (Jan 8, 2024) – Claremont Graduate University’s School of Educational Studies will host a webinar on January 22 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Lau vs. Nichols—the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case affirming bilingual education as a civil right in U.S. schools. 50th Anniversary of U.S. Supreme Court Lau v. Nichols: “From Meaningful Instruction to Equitable Access to Multilingualism” will take place on January 22 from 4:00pm - 6:30pm (PST). The webinar will feature a brief keynote from US Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education and Director for the Office of English Language Acquisition Montserrat Garibay and will bring together two nationally distinguished panels that include: the Lau plaintiff lawyer, school district superintendents, policy experts, and academics to examine issues of advocacy, civil rights, legislation, policy implementation, and practice. To attend the webinar visit here.

"The Lau decision is more relevant and important today than it was 50 years ago. We must reaffirm the civil rights of millions of U.S. public school students whose native language is not English and move towards a multilingual educational system for all students," said Oscar Jimenez-Castellanos, Senior Research Fellow at Claremont Graduate University and moderator and organizer of this Lau 50th anniversary event.   

Lau vs. Nichols concerned the San Francisco Unified School District and its nearly 3,000 non-English speaking students of Chinese ancestry. Although some of these students were provided with additional English instruction, not all were. Those students who were not (including Kinney Kimmon Lau) filed a lawsuit against the school district arguing that their rights under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Section 601 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 were violated. The court did not rule on the 14th Amendment Equal Protection motion, but it did vote unanimously (9-0) that the students’ rights were violated under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“The failure of the San Francisco school system to provide English language instruction to approximately 1,800 students of Chinese ancestry who do not speak English, or to provide them with other adequate instructional procedures, denies them a meaningful opportunity to participate in the public educational program, and thus violates § 601 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans discrimination based "on the ground of race, color, or national origin," in "any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance," and the implementing regulations of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Pp. 414 U. S. 565-569.”

Among the education and law luminaries participating on the webinar panels will be the following:

• Oscar Jimenez-Castellanos, Senior Research Fellow at Claremont Graduate University and moderator and organizer of the Lau 50th anniversary event
• Edward Steinman, Retired Professor of Law, Santa Clara University School of Law and Lau Plaintiff Lawyer
• Kenji Hakuta, Professor Emeritus, Stanford University
• Martha Hernandez, Executive Director, Californians Together
• Shantel Meek, Founding Director, Children’s Equity Project, Professor of Practice, Arizona State University
• Celina Moreno, President and CEO, IDRA
• Karling Aquilera-Fort, Ed.D Associate Superintendent San Francisco Unified School District
• Cristina Alfaro, Associate Vice President of International Affairs Executive Director, Center for Equity in Biliteracy Education Research Professor of Multilingual and Global Education
• Eugene Garcia, Professor Emeritus, Arizona State University
• Magaly Lavadenz, Leavey Presidential Endowed Chair in Ethics and Moral Leadership Founding Executive Directors, Center for Equity for English Learners, Loyola Marymount University
• Pedro Martinez, CEO, Chicago Public Schools
• Michael Robert, Superintendent, Osborn School District
• Trish Morita-Mullaney, Associate Professor, Purdue University

Contact:Oscar Jimenez-Castellanos, Ph.D.Senior Research Fellow School of Educational StudiesClaremont Graduate University oscar.jimenez-castellanos@cgu.edu

Attachment

• Claremont Graduate University

Oscar Jimenez-Castellanos, Ph.D.
Claremont Graduate University
(760) 405-3983
oscar.jimenez-castellanos@cgu.edu