lau v. nichols in 1974 was a u.s. supreme court decision which
Lau v. Nichols Lau v. Nichols, 414 U.S. 563 (1974), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court unanimously decided that the lack of supplemental language instruction in public school for students with limited English proficiency violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The court held that since non-English speakers were denied a meaningful education, the disparate impact caused by the school policy violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the school district was demanded to provide students with "appropriate relief".[1]