On December 18th of 1996, the Oakland, California school board officially declared that many of its 28,000 black students did not speak standard English, but a distinctive language spoken by American blacks that the school district and some linguists call Ebonics - derived from the combination of the words "ebony" and "phonics." The district's alleged goal is to better teach standard English and other academic subjects to black students by acknowledging the language spoken by many inner-city blacks. No other school system in the nation has adopted such a measure. But some critics described the policy as a cynical ploy to get federal funds through bilingual programs rather than a valid educational approach and said it would have the result of further stigmatizing inner-city blacks and reinforcing speech patterns that leave them outside the national mainstream.

The resolution passed unanimously by the school board of the 52,000-student district declares that all teachers should be trained to respect the Ebonics language spoken by many of their black students. Some scholars say Ebonics reflects the West African and Niger-Congo linguistic elements shared by many blacks, characterized by distinct grammar and syntax patterns like the absence of forms of the verb "to be."

Blacks make up 53 percent of the Oakland school district's enrollment, 71 percent of the special education students and only 37 percent of students in gifted and talented classes. Blacks' 1.8 grade point average on a 4.0 scale is the lowest in the district.

The racial breakdown of other students in the district is 7 percent white, 1 percent native American, 20 percent Hispanic, 20 percent Asian and 2 percent other.

Asian and Hispanic students are eligible for $262 million in Department of Education Title 7 funds that will provide bilingual education for 700,000 children under the fiscal 1997 budget. Some educators have argued similar funds should be eligible for blacks.