Thank you all for being here to commemorate this landmark decision that so profoundly affected public education across this nation.
As we reflect upon the Brown v. Board of Education decision, I think it is important that we in California also reflect upon our own history of segregation.
It is a good time to examine how far we've come and how far we have yet to go in preparing all of our students, regardless of ethnic or economic background, to be successful in the world.
Now many of us don't think of California as a "Jim Crow" state. As westerners, 50 years after the end of legal segregation in our schools, our young people in particular may feel far removed from the civil rights struggles that raged most violently across southern states not that long ago.
But as we commemorate this 50th anniversary, we should also remember another case — Mendez v. Westminster — that 60 years ago, here in California, became one of the cases that set the stage for the decision in Brown v. Board.
The case was brought in 1945 by Gonzalo Mendez, a tenant farmer in Westminster, Orange County, along with his Puerto Rico-born wife, Felicitas, and a group of Mexican American World War II veterans.
These veterans came home from risking their lives in war to challenge the practice in California school districts of segregating English learners — their children — into separate, inferior schools.
The Orange County boards had claimed that they were not segregating children on the basis of race, but that non-English-speaking children should be schooled separate and apart from English-speaking pupils. The 9th circuit court of appeals ruled that segregation illegal.
The 9th circuit court of appeals ruling declaring this segregation illegal spread beyond the four Orange County school districts named in the case. It led Governor Earl Warren and the Legislature to repeal laws we then had on the books in California, segregating Asian and Native American school children as well.
Governor Warren was later appointed to the Supreme Court, and as chief justice wrote the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954. He also worked hard to make sure the decision was unanimous, sending an unequivocal message to the country.
The Mendez case was Brown v. Board of Education for Mexican Americans and other Latinos in California.
Today in California we have the most racially diverse schools in the nation — schools where students come to class learning English and speaking hundreds of different languages.
Our greatest challenge and our highest priority must be to provide every child with an academically rigorous education and the support needed to succeed in school.
Today, our most important goal is to erase the achievement gap that still exists between African American students, Latino students and their peers. Today we are challenged to ensure that all students of all ethnic and economic backgrounds are educated to fulfill their highest potential.
To close the achievement gap we must hold high standards and provide rigorous curriculum for all students.
We must use data to help us focus our resources, to identify students at risk of falling behind, and give them the support they need.
Today, federal education law holds our student achievement up for scrutiny in comparison with students in other states. We have higher academic standards in California than in most states, so that's a tough comparison.
But I can't tell you how often I hear people suggest, "If you would only remove the English learners," from our reported test scores — "you'd see we're doing just fine."
Well, I think that's an outrageous proposition. We don't want to remove our English learners, our African Americans, our Asians or any of the myriad other races from the data we report about our schools.
Our diversity is what makes California remarkable. It's what gives us boundless potential and spurs us to think and learn and cooperate in new ways. We must never suggest it would be a good thing to return to segregation, even on paper.
Instead, we owe it to our students to educate every single one of them to fulfill their highest potential. That's our job. It's a challenge and an opportunity worth embracing, just as Gonzalo Mendez embraced the challenge of seeking fairness for his children. Just as the plaintiffs in Brown v. Board embraced with such courage the challenge of ending legalized segregation.
If we do our job well, we will once again serve as a model for the rest of the nation in the ongoing effort to provide equal education for all students. Thank you.
