The history and issues leading to the Supreme Court decision which recognized the special educational needs and rights of limited English speaking students is traced in this article. Also discussed are the ensuing community struggles for the right to fashion the appropriate relief mandated by the Supreme Court and for the right to have quality bilingual bicultural education for students of all language and cultural backgrounds. The suit of Lau v. Nichols relating to San Francisco Unified School District was the last resort after all known channels for seeking equal educational opportunity had been exhausted. Paralleling the deteriorating situation in the school district were the accelerating juvenile delinquency rates in the 1960's in the Chinese community. The significance of the Lau v. Nichols decision nation-wide was immediately felt. There are, according to the U.S. Office of Education, approximately five million school children in the U.S. covered by the decision. Beyond its impact on public education, this decision has long-range legal implications on both the effectiveness and quality of government sponsored social and legal services now provided to non-English speakers across the nation. (Author/AM)