To let the commentators tell it, educators in the city of Oakland have gone mad. They are teaching Black English as a second language and are seeking federal funds to do so, and depending on which "Black leader" you quote, this is a "bad joke" or a "cruel hoax" on the African American community. Coming a few days before Christmas, and a few weeks after affirmative action stumbled with the passage of Proposition 209, all one could say was, "Bah, humbug."

The real comment is, "Bah, homework." If those who are commenting would do as much reading as the children they want to protect are asked to, they'd know that Oakland never said it would teach Black English to youngsters. Indeed, on December 18, the Oakland Unified School District Board of Education approved a policy affirming Standard American English language development for all students. In other words, they aren't suggesting that, "We be teaching dis and dat and dese and dose." (The quote marks appear because I don't ever, ever, ever want to be accused of an inability to deal with the so-called Queen's English).

It seems that, without a lot of information, key African American leaders are condemning the Oakland approach to teaching standard English. But then if you believe everything you read, you'd have to doubt the Oakland approach, too. After all, it seems that conventionally educated African Americans are asking that their children and grandchildren get something different than a conventional education. But then, isn't this what the school-choice, school-chance, school-circumstance advocates are saying. Students aren't like T-shirts. One size one schedule, one curriculum simply does not fit ail. Oakland actually ought to be commended for seven years of experimentation in a Standard English Proficiency Program that has demonstrated success in retention, achievement, and graduation. It requires understanding, though, in order to commend them.

Oakland is trying to balance two concepts, language deficiency and English proficiency. Too many African American students in Oakland are viewed as "language deficient" because they don't speak the Queen's English. "They be tripping and be trying," but the command of the English language is highly correlated with family income, education, and exposure. Too many students in Oakland come from families where there is unemployment, poverty, and a side track, not the mainstream. Should these students be welcomed into classrooms, or shunned? Should they be judged deficient, or offered a bridge to proficiency? The focus on Ebonics is an Oakland School District focus on teachers, not students. It teaches teachers sensitivity, understanding, and a way to build a bridge. Only a combination of press ignorance and raw cynicism would turn an effort to increase sensitivity into an effort to glorify non-standard English.