Both state courts ruled that segregating Mexican American children into separate schools solely based on their ethnicity was unconstitutional under state law.
The key difference lies in the *basis* for their decisions. *Mendez* focused on violating the California Constitution's equal protection clause, arguing that segregation was inherently unequal and discriminated against Mexican Americans without any legitimate justification. *Delgado*, while also finding segregation unconstitutional, seemed to base its decision more on a violation of the Texas state constitution's provisions for a uniform system of public education, implying that separate schools for Mexican Americans undermined this uniformity.
In short, both cases achieved the same outcome – ending the segregation of Mexican American students – but reached that conclusion through slightly different legal arguments within the framework of their respective state constitutions. They were crucial precedents paving the way for *Brown v. Board of Education*, which applied the principle to racial segregation nationwide under the federal constitution.