Meyer vs. Nebraska, 1923

The German Lutherans filed suit against Nebraska in Meyer vs. Nebraska . Supreme Court ruled in June 1923. ``Forbidding teaching non-English until 8th grade violated liberty under 14th amendment." Court also struck down Ohio & Iowa laws. Kloss calls this the MAGNA CARTA of the private nationality school. (But what does this really allow if de jure does not match up with the de facto situation?)

However: the decision did not justify or rule on the grounds of:

• right of group: claim of national minority to native language.
• right of an individual (parent or child) to use a native language. (A European court would have ruled on above grounds.)

It protected only:

1.

right of a child to learn any desired ``foreign language"

2.

right of parents to have child learn any subject matter that was not a ``threat" to state.

3.

right of language teachers to exercise their profession.

By this it defined instruction in the mother tongue as ``Foreign language instruction"! Protection granted in constitution extends to all: to those who speak English as well as those who speak other tongue. Therefore, language rights were individually protected but, as Kloss notes, only for adults. Children do not have a right to language maintenance, only second-language learning. And, it is a personal right, not the right of a group or a group confined to a territory.

However, again, due to 5-6 year period when language was forbidden, there was a loss to English in all these schools. As Kloss points out, a loss to English is never regained. Schools continued after 1923 to teach most subjects in English, used German etc. only for religious instruction. Some schools and churches (e.g. Evangelical Synod) saw the handwriting on the wall and went completely English, converting completely (no German left) as early as 1922, but completely by 1929.