Ebonics to be a foreign language in CA

The San Bernardino County Sun is reporting that the San Bernardino schools will be introducing Ebonics as a foreign language in the schools to provide a "more well-rounded curriculum".

Wh-wh-wh-WHAT?

Incorporating Ebonics into a new school policy that targets black students, the lowest-achieving group in the San Bernardino City Unified School District, may provide students a more well-rounded curriculum, said a local sociologist.

The goal of the district's policy is to improve black students' academic performance by keeping them interested in school. Compared with other racial groups in the district, black students go to college the least and have the most dropouts and suspensions.

Here is the problem. It is the same problem with altering the SATs and ACTs and all other performance tests. If you lower the bar to get more people to clear it you end up doing a disservice to everyone ESPECIALLY those who you are lowering the bar for.

If in this county the blacks are the "lowest-achieving group" then the answer is not to make it easier. There are many, many other answers. Bill Cosby has one that the NAACP does not like: impose responsibility on the parents.

A pilot of the policy, known as the Students Accumulating New Knowledge Optimizing Future Accomplishment Initiative, has been implemented at two city schools.

Mary Texeira, a sociology professor at Cal State San Bernardino, commended the San Bernardino Board of Education for approving the policy in June.

Texeira suggested that including Ebonics in the program would be beneficial for students. Ebonics, a dialect of American English that is spoken by many blacks throughout the country, was recognized as a separate language in 1996 by the Oakland school board.

"Ebonics is a different language, it's not slang as many believe,' Texeira said. "For many of these students Ebonics is their language, and it should be considered a foreign language. These students should be taught like other students who speak a foreign language.'

If Ebonics is a different language that warrants a class in school then so are Valley Girl Talk, Pig-Latin, Surfer Talk and Minnesotan (it is SODA not POP).

Texeira said research has shown that students learn better when they fully comprehend the language they are being taught in.

"There are African Americans who do not agree with me. They say that (black students) are lazy and that they need to learn to talk,' Texeira said.

Len Cooper, who is coordinating the pilot program at the two city schools, said San Bernardino district officials do not plan to incorporate Ebonics into the program.

"Because Ebonics can have a negative stigma, we're not focusing on that,' Cooper said. "We are affirming and recognizing Ebonics through supplemental reading books (for students).'

First, the students need to "fully comprehend" ENGLISH. End of story. But then Texeira sets up a straw man. "they are lazy..." No, that is not the case. The students who are not learning are not being motivated. Do not cater to them. Get better administration and teachers. Get ones who motivate and inspire.

Speaking from personal experience I needed two AWESOME teachers to finally get me to pay attention. And they inspired me to do well (better, at least) in other classes as well. The did not need to lower the bar for me, I just needed inspiration.

Ebonics has the same stigma as Valley-Talk and Surfer-Talk...as well it should.

Before you write off the district entirely understand that there is ONE person there with common sense.

Teresa Parra, board vice president, said she worried the new program would have an adverse effect.

"I'm afraid that now that we have this the Hispanic community, our largest population, will say, 'We want something for us.' Next we'll have the Asian community and the Jewish community (asking for their own programs). When will it end?'

Parra said the district should focus on helping all students who are at risk.

"I've always thought that we should provide students support based on their needs and not on their race,' Parra said.

But of course, Danny Tillman (the board member that pushed the insanity through) disagrees with logic, color-blindness and common sense.

Tillman disagreed with Parra, saying programs that help Latinos already exist in the district. He cited the district's English- as-a-second-language program.

Fair point. While I disagree with the ESL programs there is a huge difference. The kids going into Ebonics classes have English as their mother tongue. That is, their home country's language is English. That is what they should be taught. While enrollees of ESL have a different language as their mother tongue.

Regardless, if any kid cannot pass a course in English then they should not pass to the next level.

Ratibu Jacocks, a member of the Westside Action Group, a coalition of black activists, said they are working with the district to ensure the policy is implemented appropriately.

"This isn't a feel-good policy. This is the real thing,' Jacocks said.

Jacocks said he didn't believe the new policy would create animosity. He said he welcomed the idea of other ethnic groups pushing for their own programs.

"When you are doing what's right, others will follow,' Jacocks said. "We have led the way before the civil-rights movement opened the door for women's rights and other movements.'

No, Jacocks, you are wrong. Civil-rights is to put everyone in the same category. These Ebonics classes are putting people into the seperate but equal mentality...which we already know is bad.