LOS ANGELES (AP) - A Los Angeles schoolteacher who played a leading role in 1960s Chicano student walkouts has died at age 79.
Sal Castro's wife, Charlotte Lerchenmuller, tells the Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/ZtQxOD ) that he died Monday of cancer at his home.
Castro was a social studies teacher at Lincoln High School near downtown in 1968 when he supported and joined walkouts by hundreds of Mexican-American students.
They protested run-down schools, a curriculum that largely ignored their history and counselors who steered them away from college and the professions.
Walkouts lasted several days and spread to 15 schools. Castro and 12 others were arrested. Their efforts eventually resulted in changes to the system.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa calls Castro "a courageous leader" who helped shape city history.