Discrepancies in the education of Anglo and Mexican-American students surfaced in Los Angeles during the 1950s and 1960s. Mexican-American students experienced a 60% dropout rate from high school, and those who did graduate averaged the reading level of an 8th grade Anglo student. In some schools, teachers prohibited students from speaking Spanish, and in others, school staff recommended Mexican-American students educational curriculum meant to help students with mental disabilities. These schools funneled many Mexican American students into vocational programs and discouraged from post-secondary studies. In response, students, teachers, parents, and activists began to organize.
The East Los Angeles Walkouts, also known as Blowouts, reflected a mass response to these discrepancies. From March 1-8 1968, thousands of students walked out of their classroom in protest.
Among the key organizers of the protests was Lincoln High School teacher Sal Castro, 34, and Moctesuma Esparza (then age 19), one of the few Latino students at UCLA, who already had been an activist in East L.A. schools since 1965 and was actively organizing Latino college students. Other key organizers were Lincoln High School students Paula Crisostomo , Boby Verdugo and Yoli Rios , Garfield High student Harry Gamboa, Jr. and Brown Beret leader Carlos Montes .
Although the walkouts did not have an immediate effect, they permanently changed higher education enrollment for Latino students. It is considered the largest high school student protest in American history and the first significant mass Latino protest.
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