Hi Matt!
 
RM> Feds said no dice on the funding....
 MS>     Count on a lawsuit challenging that.
Just as there should be.
 MS>     The Department of Education publicly stated that 
 MS> the reason it will not fund any bilingual program in 
 MS> Ebonics is that Ebonics is not a separate language like 
 MS> Oakland designated it, but just a dialect of English.
The other night Nightline had a PhD on who made the point that the 
linguistics academicians differ amongst themselves as to what is a 
"language" and what is a "dialect".  ...the "last word" on that, 
according to my understanding of the gentleman, was that it was 
often a political decision.  ...it'd be a good time for me to ask 
the referee for an amnesty period before commenting further since 
she's decided that my first ammendment rights don't extend to 
cover discussion of political maters here. :(
 MS> The federal courts will ultimately have to decide 
 MS> whether Ebonics is a "language" for purposes of 
 MS> qualifying for bilingual-education funds, and with the 
 MS> "right" judge I think it could happen.
...by "right", could we surmise that you mean "left"? 
It seems that some really good people are trying to be as nurturing 
as possible to a very deserving population.  ...same old crowd that 
would decry anything positive whatsoever regarding the Black American 
Community is, of course, doing what they are accustomed to.
...I have yet to see anyone raise the issue that perhaps it might be 
right to show the same care (in a Special Ed way) for all significant 
dialects in America.  ...I just find it interesting that the "beat 'em 
down" crowd has nothing but negativity for the issue and takes the 
position that: "Damnit; they're gonna learn our bastardization of the 
Queen's English or else!"
I just saw a report on ultra-harsh Japanese incarceration on the news.
...seems their rate of recidivism is around 60%.  There are examples 
in our country of correctional recidivism rates _much_ lower where 
truly positive programs are effected.  Maybe not all "liberal" 
programs are so far off target?
I couldn't help but notice that an Oxford education didn't keep us 
from having a president elected that held his mouth like a fly trap 
but someone must have clued him in soon after election that it was 
"uncooth". , at any rate, he survived.
...one of your earlier postings quoted an individual -- school principal,
I believe -- as saying to the effect that maybe ones grandmother would be 
able to understand them at home speaking Ebonics but it wouldn't cut it 
in the real world.  ...I quite agree that Ebonics isn't the medium of 
commerce in America but I question deeply whether a person making such a 
statement has values that Americans should respect at all.
When all is said and done the "real world" just trashed 11,000 workers 
in one fell swoop.  The ethics of the "real world" led to all kinds of 
bizare experimentation and polution -- a wholesale assault on life forms 
of all kinds on our planet.  Is family intimacy now a bad thing -- to be 
used without question as some sort of a lesser situation as compared to 
"the real world"? ...or, of course, maybe that just applies to Black 
American families.
A psychology teacher during my college days had us study Native American 
spirituality.  ...strange that certain elements of our society condemn 
other cultures so quickly that have had a hard time accepting our "real 
world" -- Black; Native American; Eskimo, to name a few,  whose "real world" 
might have held riches of far more "real value".  ...certainly they would 
have left us with healthier frogs -- and I'll bet that a "chat with 
grandmother" meant one hell of a lot more.
I've done things with Oakland Unified School District and have found them 
to be extremely advanced, progressive and professional.  The Nightline 
program's tone changed markedly during their discussion with an OUSD 
school board member -- it may well be that they have discovered more 
than we saw at first.  ...if so, and the measurable results are positive, 
then we ought to move heaven and earth to support the effort -- even if 
it means turning the Feds on their ear over it.
I had a chat with the President-elect of the Sacramento Chapter of the 
NAACP on another issue recently -- he invited me to the installation of 
officers and I would have attended if it hadn't been for working overtime 
building Genentech a bran new headquarters near U.C. Davis.  I still owe 
him a report on the other issue -- given the opposition of the national 
President of the NAACP to the issue of Ebonics at the beginning of the 
Nightline broadcast (seemed to soften later after clarification) I'd be 
interested in knowing what the local position is.
...'course all this is just great fun for Limbaugh but I see some highly 
dedicated teachers trying to improve *their* communication for results 
we all believe in.  
Best,    -frank:)
--- Maximus 2.01wb
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