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Students’ Right to Their Own Language Policy
Affirming students' right to “their own patterns and varieties of language -- the dialects of their nurture or whatever dialects in which they find their own identity and style” that was first adopted in 1974 -
King v. Ann Arbor
The case of Martin Luther King Junior Elementary School Children et al. v. Ann Arbor School District, known as the Ann Arbor Decision, is considered to have established an important precedent in the education of poor African American students who are Black English speakers. -
National Language Policy of 1988
A response to efforts to make English the “official” language of the United States. This policy recognizes the historical reality that, even though English has become the language of wider communication, we are a multilingual society. All people in a democratic society have the right to education, to employment, to social services, and to equal protection under the law. No one should be denied these or any civil rights because of linguistic differences. -
Oakland Ebonics Debate/Resolution
The Oakland Unified School District school board of Oakland, California, United States, passed a controversial resolution recognizing the legitimacy of Ebonics — what mainstream linguists more commonly term African American Vernacular English (AAVE) — as an African language. The resolution set off a firestorm of media criticism and ignited a national debate.