Lau v. Nichols
414 U.S. 563 (1974)
When children arrive in school with
little or no English-speaking ability, "sink or swim" instruction
is a violation of their civil rights, according to the U.S. Supreme Court
in this 1974 decision. Lau remains the major precedent
regarding the educational rights of language minorities, although it is
grounded in statute (Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964), rather
than in the U.S. Constitution. At issue was whether school administrators
may meet their obligation to provide equal educational opportunities merely
by treating all students the same, or whether they must offer special help
for students unable to understand English. Lower federal courts had absolved
the San Francisco school district of any responsibility for minority children's
"language deficiency." But a unanimous Supreme Court disagreed.
Its ruling opened a new era in federal civil rights enforcement under the
so-called "Lau Remedies." The decision was delivered by Justice
William O. Douglas on January 21, 1974.
This class suit brought by non-English-speaking Chinese
students against officials responsible for the operation of the San Francisco
Unified School District seeks relief against the unequal educational opportunities
which are alleged to violate, inter alia, the Fourteenth Amendment.
No specific remedy is urged upon us. Teaching English to the students of
Chinese ancestry who do not speak the language is one choice. Giving instructions
to this group in Chinese is another. There may be others. Petitioner asks
only that the Board of Education be directed to apply its expertise to
the problem and rectify the situation. ...
The Court of Appeals reasoned that "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"; 83 F.2d 497. Yet in our view the case may not be so easily
decided. This is a public school system of California and § 71 of
the California Education Code states that "English shall be the basic
language of instruction in all schools." That section permits a school
district to determine "when and under what circumstances instruction
may be given bilingually." That section also states as "the policy
of the state" to insure "the mastery of English by all pupils
in the schools." And bilingual instruction is authorized "to
the extent that it does not interfere with the systematic, sequential,
and regular instruction of all pupils in the English language."
Moreover, § 8573 of the Education Code provides that
no pupil shall receive a diploma of graduation from grade 12 who has not
met the standards of proficiency in "English," as well as other
prescribed subjects. Moreover, by § 12101 of the Education Code (Supp.
1973) children between the ages of six and 16 years are (with exceptions
not material here) "subject to compulsory full-time education."
Under these state-imposed standards there is no equality
of treatment merely by providing students with the same facilities, textbooks,
teachers, and curriculum; for students who do not understand English are
effectively foreclosed from any meaningful education. Basic English skills
are at the very core of what these public schools teach. Imposition of
a requirement that, before a child can effectively participate in the educational
program, he must already have acquired those basic skills is to make a
mockery of public education. We know that those who do not understand English
are certain to find their classroom experiences wholly incomprehensible
and in no way meaningful.
We do not reach the Equal Protection Clause argument which
has been advanced but rely solely on § 601 of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964 to reverse the Court of Appeals. That section bans discrimination
based "on the ground of race, color, or national origin," in
"any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance."
The school district involved in this litigation receives large amounts
of federal financial assistance. The Department of Health, Education, and
Welfare (H.E.W.), which has authority to promulgate regulations prohibiting
discrimination in federally assisted school systems, in 1968 issued one
guideline that "[s]chool 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." In 1970 H.E.W. made the guidelines more specific,
requiring school districts that were federally funded "to rectify
the language deficiency in order to open" the instruction to students
who had "linguistic deficiencies."
It seems obvious that the Chinese-speaking minority receive
fewer benefits than the English-speaking majority from respondents' school
system, which denies them a meaningful opportunity to participate in the
educational program – all earmarks of the discrimination banned by the
Regulations. In 1970 H.E.W. issued clarifying guidelines which include
Where inability to speak and understand the English language
excludes national origin-minority group children from effective participation
in the educational program offered by a school district, the district must
take affirmative steps to rectify the language deficiency in order to open
its instructional program to these students.
Any ability grouping or tracking system employed by the
school system to deal with the special language skill needs of national
origin-minority group children must be designed to meet such language skill
needs as soon as possible and must not operate as an educational deadend
or permanent track.
Respondent school district contractually agreed to "comply
with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ... and all requirements
imposed by or pursuant to the Regulation" of H.E.W. which are "issued
pursuant to that title ..." and also immediately to "take any
measures necessary to effectuate this agreement." The Federal Government
has power to fix the terms on which its money allotments to the States
shall be disbursed. Whatever the limits of that power, they have not been
reached here. Senator Humphrey, during the floor debates on the Civil Rights
Act of 1964, said:
Simple justice requires that public funds, to which all
taxpayers of all races contribute, not be spent in any fashion which encourages,
entrenches, subsidizes, or results in racial discrimination.
We accordingly reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals
and remand the case for the fashioning of appropriate relief. ...
While concurring in the decision,
Justice Harry Blackmun (joined by Chief Justice Warren Burger) added a
caveat that could prove significant as school districts are confronted
with increasingly diverse student populations.
Against the possibility that the Court's judgment may
be interpreted too broadly, I stress the fact that the children with whom
we are concerned here number about 1,800. This is a very substantial group
that is being deprived of any meaningful schooling because the children
cannot understand the language of the classroom. We may only guess as to
why they have had no exposure to English in their preschool years. Earlier
generations of American ethnic groups have overcome the language barrier
by earnest parental endeavor or by the hard fact of being pushed out of
the family or community nest and into the realities of broader experience.
I merely wish to make plain that when, in another case,
we are confronted with a very few youngsters, or with just a single child
who speaks only German or Polish or Spanish or any language other than
English, I would not regard today's decision ... as conclusive upon the
issue whether the statute and the guidelines require the funded school
district to provide special instruction. For me, numbers are at the heart
of this case and my concurrence is to be understood accordingly.