THE CHINESE IN THE SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM: AN HISTORICAL STUDY OF ONE MINORITY GROUP'S RESPONSE TO EDUCATIONAL DISCRIMINATION, 1859-1959

Statement of the Problem. San Francisco has been the cultural center for the Chinese in America since the mid-1850s. Its local school board's discriminatory treatment and attitude toward the Chinese has never been comprehensively studied, let alone the feelings and responses evoked from this minority American community. This dissertation portrays this history in light of the Lau v. Nichols Supreme Court decision of 1974.;Results. Primary and secondary source materials in both English and Chinese consistently point to the discriminatory school practices of San Francisco toward Chinese. The issues over the years have been (1)lack of educational accommodations: 1859-1870; (2)exclusion from public schooling: 1871-1884; (3) segregated schooling: 1885-1947; (4)inadequacy of the Oriental School: 1915-1957; (5)negative images of Chinese held by the school community: 1859-1959; and (6)discriminatory practices toward Chinese American teachers: 1926-1959.;The struggle by the Chinese Community to seek equal educational treatment can be classified into six categories: (1)withdrawal; (2)circumvention; (3)legal redress; (4)appeals to local school board as well as to state and federal legislatures; (5)establishing a positive image; and (6)persistent effort.;Conclusion. The successful struggle by the Chinese Community in San Francisco for educational equity over the past century prepared the way for their victorious litigation in the Lau decision of 1974. The judgment forced the city school authorities to address the unique educational needs of the linguistically and culturally different child. Whereas earlier struggles dealt with overcoming the barriers that kept the Chinese from joining the city's mainstream, the Lau decision introduces a new element in the mainstreaming process that has national implications. From henceforth, limited and non-English speaking children will be taught in the nation's public schools by bilingual-bicultural personnel. In short, the birth of a new educational idea that is more consistent with our democratic traditions is in the offing because it prepares minority American children with a different linguistic and cultural orientation to participate more fully in our nation's affairs without having to abandon or negate their heritage. The irony is that America's educational and political leaders may see this innovative approach as un-American. Hopefully this historical dissertation of one minority American group's struggles has shed some light and understanding for a more embrasive concept of an American in order that we may conserve the linguistic and cultural treasures we have in this nation.;Methods and Procedures. This is an historical study. Information retrieval was derived from English and Chinese primary sources. Secondary sources that met the scrutiny of external and internal criticisms were used whenever they provided insights or continuity to the narrative. Formal interviews were conducted with Chinese American teachers employed in San Francisco before 1960. Informal interviews were held with leaders of the Chinese Community who had knowledge and experience regarding public schooling for the Chinese in San Francisco. The collected data was organized into a chronological and thematic pattern.