Professor Rosemary Salomone was quoted in the article, “In 1974, the Supreme Court Recognized English Learners’ Rights. The Story Behind That Case,” in the January 19th issue of Education Week. The article commemorates the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Lau v. Nichols:
“The legacy of Lau is that it did have some symbolic value, even though the court never clearly stated that English learners had a right to education in their home language,” said Rosemary C. Salomone, a law professor at St. John’s University in New York City who has written widely on the case.
“Lau became a beacon of hope for English-language learners as a symbol of this notion of a ‘meaningful education,’” she said. “But it never fully delivered on that promise.”
Professor Salomone discussed the decision, its history, and aftermath at length in her book True American: Language, Identity, and the Education of Immigrant Children (Harvard University Press, 2010).