Five Mexican-American families sued on behalf of thousands of students who were forced to attend substandard schools within the district.

Thurgood Marshall authored an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the NAACP in favor of integration and later argued the merits before the Supreme Court in Brown.

After the Mendez case, Governor Earl Warren led the call for full integration of California public schools.

[15][16] The program was implemented by the district's first minority Superintendent, Dr. Marian Kim-Phelps[17] and the Director of the Office of Language Acquisition, Dr. Renae Bryant, after the board consisting of Jamison Power, Mary Mangold, Amy Walsh, Dave Bridgewaters, and Penny Loomer unanimously approved moving forward with implementing the program.

In 2017, the program received the prestigious California School Boards Association Golden Bell award.