Oakland Board Revises 'Ebonics' Resolution

Oakland, Calif., school officials took action last week to end the national war of words waged over the district's resolution on "ebonics" by revising the resolution at the heart of the controversy.

But the ebonics debate in Oakland and beyond is likely to continue, observers said.

After hours of internal wrangling, the district's seven-member school board voted unanimously to adopt the revised wording at a special board meeting on Jan. 15. Members of a district task force created to recommend ways to improve education for Oakland's African-American students wrote the original resolution that the board adopted unanimously on Dec. 18. That resolution--which deems many of the district's African-American students to be speakers of a language distinct from English--sparked a national debate on black English and black student achievement. ( "'Ebonics' Vote Puts Oakland in Maelstrom," ...