Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Part 1 Ebonics in the Urban Education Debate -- Ebonics: Background to the Policy Debate -- Using the Vernacular to Teach the Standard1 -- Educational Implications of Ebonics -- Black Language and the Education of Black Children: One Mo Once -- Ebonics and Education in the Context of Culture: Meeting the Language and Cultural Needs of English Learning African American Students -- Language Varieties in the School Curriculum: Where Do They Belong and How Will They Get There? -- Part 2 Background To The Ebonics Debate -- Introduction -- Oakland Uni.ed School District's Resolution -- Original Oakland Unified School District Resolution on Ebonics -- Examples of Legislative Reaction -- Congressional Response -- Legal Background -- Martin Luther King Junior Elementary School Children Et Al V. Ann Arbor School District Board -- Linguists' Reactions -- A Linguist Looks At the Ebonics Debate -- Ebonics and Linguistic Science: Clarifying the Issues -- Dialect Readers Revisited -- Congressional Testimony -- Organizational Responses -- Policy Statement Policy of the TESOL Board on African American Vernacular English -- Policy Statement of the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) -- Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) Statement to the Media on Ebonics -- California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE) Position Statement on Ebonics -- Recommended Readings on Ebonics -- Scholarly References and News Titles.