EDUCATIONAL REFORM IN LOS ANGELES AND ITS EFFECT UPON THE MEXICAN COMMUNITY, 1900-1930

The theme of equal educational opportunity was a major concern of the urban Chicano Movement in the late sixties. Chicanos accused the entire school system of racism and insensitivity towards the Chicano community. Schools, declared the activists, used institutionalized techniques such as intelligence tests and a tracking system to insure that disproportional numbers of Chicano children would be placed in vocational education courses or in classes for the mentally retarded