Should non-speaking students be taught in their native language or should they be put directly into an English only classroom? The debate on bilingual education has been going on for years, going back centuries. Many people hold to theory that bilingual education is an effective way to cultivate an effective school system, while others feel that there are better ways to teach students without strong English skills. Bilingual education is a program for non-English speaking students, which gives students a chance to obtain an education. The programs teaches students the curriculum in their native language until they know enough English to then be moved into the standard school system (Mitchell 24). Concerns arose when the parents of students who were part of the bilingual education program were not given the same opportunities that the rest of the schools students were benefiting from. “Perhaps the greatest fear among educators is that children will fail in school because of language difficulties and that the reason for the failure will be perceived as a lack of intelligence”(Mitchell 24). Everyone has the right to an education, Bilingual Education has been a controversy for years because no one can agree on if it benefits or hinders the students academically. When immigrants began to flood the United States, there were very few opportunities for an immigrant to obtain an education. Many school districts didn’t have special programs to help students understand English; they were put into regular classrooms. The lack of effort being put into the bilingual students education made parents upset. Being the parent of an immigrant was very frustrating because majority of them didn’t speak English either. With the inability to communicate with their children’s teachers some parents took schools to court for the handicap the children faced. One case in particular Lou vs. Nichols made a huge impact on the education system. Kinney Lou was a second grader in the San Francisco school district who spoke Mandarin. Lou was given no help learning English in school and didn’t understand anything that was being talked about. At the time that the lawsuit was filed, in 1970, there were 2856 students that were limited English speakers in the San Francisco area. (Mcpherson 46). The school district argued that there was not enough funding for a bilingual program. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Lou, saying that everyone is entitled to an equal education (McPherson 80). This was the beginning of equality for the educational system. Peter Appelbaum the author of Multicultural and Diverse Education: A Reference Handbook stated “Many people interpreted this decision as reversing the important thrust of Brown vs. The board of education, because this new decision seemed to say that separate educational programs are required for equity” (Appelbaum 32). Brown vs. the board of education ruled against separate schooling between races. Although Lou vs. Nichols completely went against Brown vs. The Board of Education it was for good reasoning. This new ruling was to benefit the minority part of the school system not separate race. As years passed more schools started addressing the language barriers that were created in school settings. “In 1994, 76 percent of public schools in the united states with LEP student enrollments provided ESL programs and 36 percent had bilingual education programs” (Appelbaum 32). This proves that school districts were not taking the students education and civil rig