View source for Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974

{{Short description|Civil rights law of the United States}}
{{Use American English|date = April 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = April 2019}}
{{Infobox U.S. legislation
| name= Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974
| fullname= An act to establish a comprehensive prohibition of discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender, or national origin 
| acronym= EEOA
| cite statutes at large= 20 USC Sec. 1701-1758
| effective date = August 21, 1974
| acts amended = [[Elementary and Secondary Education Act]] 
| title amended   = [[Title 20 of the United States Code|20 U.S.C.: Education]]
| sections amended = {{usctc|20|70}}
| signedpresident = [[Richard Nixon]]
| signeddate = 1974
| SCOTUS cases = {{ubl|''[[Lau v. Nichols]]<br />[[Castañeda v. Pickard]]<br />[[Plyler v. Doe]]<br />Keyes v. School District 1<br />United States v. State of Texas<br />Idaho Migrant Council v. Board of Education''|''[[Horne v. Flores]]'', {{ussc|557|433|2009}}}}
}}

The '''Equal Educational Opportunities Act''' (EEOA) of 1974 is a federal law of the [[United States|United States of America]]. It prohibits [[discrimination]] against faculty, staff, and students, including [[racial segregation]] of students, and requires [[school districts]] to take action to overcome barriers to students' equal participation. It is one of a number of laws affecting educational institutions including the [[Rehabilitation Act]] (1973), [[Individuals with Disabilities Education Act]] (IDEA) and the [[Americans with Disabilities Act]] (ADA).

==Background==

===Origins===

The [[civil rights movement]] brought about controversies on [[desegregation busing in the United States|busing]], [[linguistic rights|language rights]], [[Desegregation in the United States|desegregation]], and the idea of “equal education".<ref name="pdf">{{cite web|url=http://law.wlu.edu/deptimages/Law%20Review/65-2Berenyi.pdf |title="Appropriate Action," Inappropriately Defined: Amending the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 |date= |access-date=2012-03-23}}</ref> The groundwork for the creation of the Equal Educational Opportunities Act first came about with the passage of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]], which banned [[discrimination]] and [[racial segregation]] against African Americans and women.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}} In 1968 the [[United States Department of Education|U.S.&nbsp;Department of Education]], formerly the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, issued a statement saying that school officials are responsible for providing equal educational opportunities for all, regardless of one’s nationality, race, or color.<ref name="Nixon" /> A 1970 memorandum was then passed, clarifying the responsibilities of school officials.<ref name="Nixon" /> In addition to requiring separate classes to be created for students less than proficient in the English language, communication between students’ parents and the school was to be required to be conducted in a language understood by the parents.

===President Nixon's proposals===
On March 6, 1972, [[Richard Nixon|President Richard Nixon]] clarified the definition of “equal educational opportunity” and also called for the judiciary to create a more uniform set of standards off which to judge future cases related with educational opportunity, prioritize equal education, and create alternatives to [[Desegregation busing in the United States|busing]].<ref name="Nixon">{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=3776#axzz1pm57fScr |title=Nixon's Message to Congress about Education |publisher=Presidency.ucsb.edu |date= |access-date=2012-03-23}}</ref> He set forth two specific proposals on this day: one to effectively eliminate busing entitled "The Student Transportation Moratorium Act" and another entitled the Equal Educational Opportunities Act.<ref name="Nixon" />

Although the Equal Educational Opportunities Act was not passed at that time, Nixon declared that “[t]his act would require that every State or locality grant equal educational opportunity to every person, regardless of race, color, or national origin”.<ref name="pdf" /> In the 1974 ''[[Lau v. Nichols]]'', students unable to speak English fluently were denied additional education, resulting in renewed interest in Nixon’s 1972 proposals. This led to the official passage of the act on August 21, 1974.<ref name="house1">{{cite web |url=http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/20C39.txt |title=Full Text of Act |access-date=2012-03-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915180417/http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/20C39.txt |archive-date=2012-09-15 }}</ref>

===Legislative history===
[[United States Congress|Congress]] passed the EEOA as a house bill amending the [[Elementary and Secondary Education Act]] of 1965. The only legislative history available for reference is from a similar bill passed in 1972. The [[U.S.&nbsp;House Committee on Education and the Workforce|House Committee on Education and Labor]] noted that the bill was significant in that it contained the first "illustrative definition of a denial of equal educational opportunity", and that this lent clarity to schools, governmental authorities, and students as to what, precisely, their rights were.<ref name="pdf" />

==Contents of the act==

===Provisions===
The act states that no U.S.&nbsp;state can deny equal educational opportunity to any person on the basis of gender, race, color, or nationality through intentional segregation by an educational institution; neglecting to resolve intentional segregation; by forced assignment of a student to a school, other than the one closest to their place of residence, that promotes further segregation; by discrimination in determining faculty and staff; by purposely transferring a student to another school to increase segregation; or by failing to remove language barriers preventing students from being able to equally participating in English classes.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/20/1701 |title=20 USC § 1701 from Cornell Law School |publisher=Law.cornell.edu |date= |access-date=2012-03-23}}</ref>

The act also states that lawsuits may also be filed should individuals believe themselves to be denied equal education from their peers. The [[United States Attorney General|U.S.&nbsp;attorney general]] is also allowed to initiate civil action on behalf of students should he deem it necessary.

===Defining "Appropriate Action"===

The act remains vague in its statutory language. The EEOA states that no state can deny students the right to equal education by "failure by an educational agency to take 'appropriate action' to overcome language barriers that impede equal participation by its students in its instructional programs".<ref name="house1"/> For example, although the act bears no mention of bilingual education, but instead uses the term "appropriate action" to describe measures Congress may take to enforce the EEOA, Congress has interpreted bilingual education as an action a school district must take to help teach non-English-speaking students how to speak English.

==Notable court cases==

===''Lau v. Nichols'' (1974)===
{{Main article|Lau v. Nichols}}
This case was a landmark case during which the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S&nbsp;Supreme Court]] made one of its first interpretations of the term "appropriate action". In 1974 the court ruled that a school district based in [[San Francisco]] had violated the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] by denying students of Chinese descent opportunities to participate in classes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mc3edsupport.org/community/knowledgebases/guiding-federal-court-cases-on-equal-educational-opportunity-11.html |title=''Lau v. Nichols'' |publisher=Mc3edsupport.org |date= |access-date=2012-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141101041138/http://www.mc3edsupport.org/community/knowledgebases/guiding-federal-court-cases-on-equal-educational-opportunity-11.html |archive-date=November 1, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The court decided that just providing the students with the same textbooks, desks, and teachers was not sufficient, and measures, such as instruction in both Chinese and English, needed to be taken to make sure that English was taught to non-English speaking students.

===''Castañeda v. Pickard'' (1981)===
{{Main article|Castañeda v. Pickard}}
In 1981 the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit|U.S&nbsp;Fifth Circuit of Appeals]] created a three-prong test to be used to determine whether or not school officials denied students not proficient in English the right to enjoy equal educational opportunities.<ref name="mc3edsupport1">{{cite web |url=http://www.mc3edsupport.org/community/knowledgebases/guiding-federal-court-cases-on-equal-educational-opportunity-11.html |title=C''asteneda v. Pickard'' |publisher=Mc3edsupport.org |date= |access-date=2012-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141101041138/http://www.mc3edsupport.org/community/knowledgebases/guiding-federal-court-cases-on-equal-educational-opportunity-11.html |archive-date=November 1, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Under this test, an acceptable program for English-language learners is as follows:<ref name="mc3edsupport1"/>

* A curriculum is recognized by experts in the field;
* The programs or methods used are effective in carrying out the curriculum;
* The program proves successful in helping to overcome language barriers.

The court ruled that students learning English as their [[second language]] should be able to receive the rest of the school’s educational opportunities regardless of any language barriers.

===''Plyler v. Doe'' (1982)===
{{Main article|Plyler v. Doe}}
In 1982 the court ruled that public school districts could not deny immigrant students from receiving a free public education.<ref name="mc3edsupport2">{{cite web |url=http://www.mc3edsupport.org/community/knowledgebases/guiding-federal-court-cases-on-equal-educational-opportunity-11.html |title=''Plyler v. Doe'' |publisher=Mc3edsupport.org |date= |access-date=2012-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141101041138/http://www.mc3edsupport.org/community/knowledgebases/guiding-federal-court-cases-on-equal-educational-opportunity-11.html |archive-date=November 1, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The court also ruled that not only do undocumented children have the right to receive the same public education, but that they are also required, like [[U.S.&nbsp;citizen]]s and permanent residents, to attend school until they are of age as laid down by the state law.

Public schools and school personnel are also not allowed to adopt measures that would prevent students from receiving access to public education based on their citizenship status. For example, the court ruled that school officials cannot legally ask students to present proof of citizenship such as [[Permanent residence (United States)|green card]]s. Instead, they can only ask the student to provide proof that they reside within the boundaries of the school district.<ref name="mc3edsupport2"/>

===''Keyes v. School District 1'' (1983)===
In 1983 the three-part test created in the ''[[Castañeda v. Pickard]]'' was used to decide that a school district in [[Denver]], Colorado, had participated in intentionally separating white students from [[Mexican-American]] students.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://american-education.org/1150-keyes-v-school-district-no-1.html |title=''Keyes v. School District 1'' |publisher=American-education.org |date=2011-07-07 |access-date=2012-03-23}}</ref> The court ordered for desegregation.

===''United States v. State of Texas'' (1982)===
In 1982 the Court ruled that the state of Texas had failed to provide opportunities for English learners, mainly of Latino descent, to overcome language barriers under the EEOA.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.civilrights.org/resources/civilrights101/desegregation.html |title=''United States v. State of Texas'' |publisher=Civilrights.org |access-date=2012-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140918034525/http://www.civilrights.org/resources/civilrights101/desegregation.html |archive-date=September 18, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> State education agencies adopted bilingual services to be provided for those learning how to speak English.

===''Idaho Migrant Council v. Board of Education'' (1981)===
In 1981 the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit|U.S.&nbsp;Ninth Circuit]] ruled that state education departments needed to enforce federal mandates in local school districts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lawhighereducation.com/52-equal-educational-opportunities-act-eeoa.html |title=''Idaho v. Board of Education'' |publisher=Lawhighereducation.com |date=2010-12-21 |access-date=2012-03-23}}</ref>

===''Flores v. Arizona'' (2000)===
	This case was first filed in 1992 from parents accusing schools for failing to provide adequate enough educational services for English language learners and in 2000, the court ruled that educational programs were not properly funded nor were enough teachers provided. As a result, the court ruled for sufficient educational resources to be implemented as of January 31, 2002, and in 2009, the Court ruled that the EEOA was officially violated.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lawhighereducation.com/52-equal-educational-opportunities-act-eeoa.html |title=''Flores v. Arizona'' |publisher=Lawhighereducation.com |date=2010-12-21 |access-date=2012-03-23}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]
*[[Equal Opportunity Employment]]
*[[United States Department of Education]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120915180417/http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/20C39.txt Full text of the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974]
*[https://www.justice.gov/crt/about/edu/ U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Educational Opportunities Section FAQ]

{{Presidency of Richard Nixon}}

[[Category:1974 in law]]
[[Category:93rd United States Congress]]
[[Category:Anti-discrimination law in the United States]]
[[Category:United States federal civil rights legislation]]
[[Category:United States federal education legislation]]
[[Category:1974 in education]]
[[Category:Equal employment opportunity]]