The Oakland School Board has revised its policy recognizing black English as a separate language, hoping to mollify critics who feared the wording implied students would be taught in ebonics.
The revisions approved late Wednesday drop any suggestion that ebonics - a combination of "ebony" and "phonics" - is genetically based and cut wording that implies students would be taught in both ebonics and standard English.Those phrases in the original policy were widely criticized as legitimizing slang and lowering standards for black students.
"I'm hoping that people will search their hearts and look at what we always intended to do and give us a chance," Jean Quan, School Board president, said after the changes were passed unanimously by the seven-member board.
The original resolution, passed Dec. 18, declared that "African Language Systems are genetically based and not a dialect of English." The revised version states that, "African Language Systems have origins in west (African) and Niger-Congo languages and are not merely dialects of English."
The board also agreed to change a phrase that recognizes black English as "the primary language" of many black students. The new wording states that black English represents "the language patterns that many African-American students bring to school."
The new version also retains a commitment of "respecting and embracing the legitimacy and richness of the language patterns whether they are known as `Ebonics,' `African Language Systems' or `Pan African Communication Behaviors.' "
Oakland officials insisted they were not backing away from their original goal: to train teachers to recognize ebonics so they can help students make the transition to standard English.
Many attending the meeting disagreed.
"You can't see past your noses," Deborah Wright told the School Board. "Passing an ebonics policy on Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday is an insult to his memory."
Another speaker, Bertha Westbrooks, said: "We're the laughingstock of the nation."