Mendez v. Westminster

CA-1947

State can not segregate Mexican-American children from others; however, students still remained de facto segregated. 

Mendez won the case.

Mexican American Legal Defense Fund

TX-1968

• Equal school financing
• Desegregation
• Bilingual education

In 1968, 10,000 students walked out of east LA high schools to protest conditions

• Similar walkouts occurred in Crystal City and Antonio, TX

Cisneros v. Corpus Christi Independent School Dist.

1968

Federal case involving segregation of Hispanic students. Federal judge ruled Hispanics a "minority group".

• Brown case as precedent 

Keyes v. School Dist. No. 1 of Denver, CO

1973

Supreme court decision...recognized Hispanics as identifiable class for 14th Amendment purposes.

• Hispanic school segregation is unconstitutional

Serrano v. Priest

CA-1971

Case challenging the inequality in schools based on property taxes alone. Poor districts cannot produce adequate results.

• California has a responsibility to adequately fun schools.

San Antonio Independent School Dist. v. Rodriguez

TX-1971

MALDEF case brought against TX for unequal funding as unconstitutional by equal protection under the 14th Amendment.

• Appealed, U.S. Supreme Court did not see a federal role.
• Ruling: Texas did not violate the 14th...their financing is for a legitimate state purpose

LBJ expanded federal interest in civil rights issues.

• Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Voting Rights Act of 1965
• "Head Start"
• Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

Outlawed many aspects of discrimination, authorizing U.S. Dept. of Justice to file legal suits in discrimination cases...especially for schools.

• Office of Education had to make new guidelines for desegregation 

Federal enforcement of 15th Amendment

• Outlawed "poll taxes" and "literacy tests"

"Head Start"

1964

$4 billion increase in federal funding for education

• Special ed. and "disadvantaged" students targeted
• Higher taxes and federal intrusion on states' control
• NPR and PBS

"Boomers" hit college in '64.

• Expansion of community and junior colleges
• More students=More potential for controversy 

"Free Speech" Protest

Berkeley-1964

Hundreds of students were arrested for disturbing the peace.

• Administration compromised:
• Free speech allowed if school is notified ahead of time the location and time of event

Anti-Vietnam War Protest

UCSB-1970

Student demonstrators burned down Bank of America

• B of A was financing some defense industries
• Reagan, CA governor, went to UCSB to maintain that California will not tolerate violent campus unrest

Kent State

Ohio-1970

Student protest against Nixon's "incursion" into Cambodia to hit enemy supply lines

• Four students shot and killed by National Guard

Colombia University

1968

Harvard University

1969

Grad students went on strike for less work and more pay.

• Got what they wanted

In the late 1950's, Cubans fled communist Castro to South Florida with no English skills

• Dade County, FL set up bilingual education...supposing it would only be temporary

Finally implemented in 1968 by LBJ.

• Bilingual Education Act (Title VII)
• Federal funding available for bilingual education
• Assimilation favored over multiculturalism

Lau v. Nichols

San Francisco-1974

Supreme Court case to provide appropriate language instruction for Chinese students

• Influenced Puerto Ricans in N.Y. to push for bilingualism 

Enforced integration-busing whites to urban areas, and blacks to suburban areas

• Because of "white flight"
• Big legal issues

Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education

NC-1970

School busing in Charlotte, North Carolina

• Court held that busing was appropriate
• Federal courts issued busing in Raleigh, NC, Richmond, VA, and Louisville, KY

Keyes v. School District No. 1

CO-1972

Busing order in Denver to foster integration

• Many other cities ordered to bus as well: Baltimore, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Kansas City

Bostonian Busing Riot

1974

Governor had to call the National Guard.

• Poor whites did not like that rich whites could simply send their children to private school

Milliken v. Bradley

1974

Supreme court decision to strike down busing outside of city limits.

• NAACP still wanted busing to be supported into the suburbs... struck down
• You pay property taxes for schools you can't attend

1st Amendment

1791

Children of Catholic immigrants attended schools with a Protestant bias beginning in 1840's

America became theologically diverse in 20th century

Minersville School District v. Gobitis

Pennsylvania-1940

Johava's Witness family objected to state law requiring students to recite the pledge.

• Lower courts didn't think the pledge prohibited the free exercise of religion-1st Amendment
• US Supreme Court reversed decision based on 14th Amendment-equal protection
• Loyalty can not be forced upon a free people in a free society (WWII influenced views)

Wisconsin v. Yoder

1972

Wisconsin had a compulsory education law stating that children must attend school through age 16.

• Supreme court ruled in favor of Amish family:
• Law infringes on the Amish religious freedom as school in an integral part of their agrarian lifestyle

Engel v. Vitale

NY-1962

New York state law required a nondenominational prayer each morning (students may be excused)

• Supreme court declared that prayer recitation was unconstitutional by the 1st Amendment

Abington School District v. Schempp

Pennsylvania-1963

Pennsylvania state law required 10 bible verses to be read at the beginning of each school day, followed by a recitation of the Lord's Prayer.

• School personnel must conduct readings
• Child could be excused
• Supreme court concluded law unconstitutional by 1st Amendment

Lemon v. Kurtzman

("Lemon I")

Pennsylvania, Rhode Island-1971

Paid part of teacher's salaries in parochial schools, but only for teaching of non-religious subjects.

• Violation of 1st Amendment:
• "An excessive entanglement between government and religion"

"Lemon II"

1973

"A Nation at Risk"

1983

Landmark study finding America's schools to be in academic decline.

Reagan administration insisted on a "Return to Basics"

"No Child Left Behind"-George W. Bush

• Standardized testing of reading and math
• Greater school accountability

Bakke Case 

Davis, CA-1978