Attorneys Marty Glick and Maurice Jourdane reveal the efforts of California Rural Legal Assistance in their new book, *The Soledad Children: The Fight to End Discriminatory IQ Tests*. The book addresses the unfair classification of Latino and African American children as Educable Mentally Retarded (EMR).
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California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) began offering legal aid to migrant farmworkers and their families in 1966. After working on voting rights in Mississippi, Glick was recruited to help represent migrant workers' rights in California, eventually heading the CRLA Education Task Force in 1969.
Glick learned of a complaint from a mother in Soledad, Salinas Valley, whose daughter was given an English-language IQ test, despite the family's Spanish-speaking background. The girl struggled with the test and was consequently placed in an EMR class, lacking proper educational resources. Other parents soon reported similar experiences.
Teaming up with The California Association of Chicano Psychologists, Glick and Jourdane uncovered a troubling statewide practice of administering English-only tests to all third graders, disadvantaging non-English speakers. Their research revealed that these children possessed the skills necessary for regular classes.
After unsuccessful negotiations with the Soledad school district, Glick and Jourdane filed a class-action lawsuit on January 7, 1970, known as Diana v. State Board of Education, aimed at ending the discriminatory practices impacting Latino children. Following this, in late 1971, a similar case, Larry P., was initiated on behalf of African American students in California.
For more insights, listen to the full interview with Houston Public Media's Eric Ladau and Marty Glick.