SENATORS PROPOSE BARRING STATE FUNDING FOR EBONICS.

Byline: Paul Hefner Daily News Sacramento Bureau

Condemning efforts to recognize ebonics as a distinct language, conservatives proposed Tuesday barring using state money to teach the subject - either to students or their instructors.

State Sen. Ray Haynes, R-Riverside, said it's wrong to train teachers to recognize slang used by some African-Americans as a language apart from English.

``(Ebonics) says that African-American students are not as smart as white students and therefore need a different way of being taught English,'' Haynes said. ``It says that the only way that teachers can teach black students appropriate English is by learning bad English, and I think that's just bad pedagogical theory.''

Haynes held a news conference in the state Capitol on Tuesday to unveil his proposal, Senate Bill 205, which also would bar local school boards from seeking federal funds for ebonics instruction. He was joined by Sen. Richard Mountjoy, R-Arcadia, who said he planned to sign on as a co-author.

Debate has raged nationwide over the issue since last month, when Oakland school officials approved a resolution recognizing ebonics as a language and calling for teachers to be trained in the topic. Tuesday, lines were quickly drawn over the issue in Sacramento.

State Sen. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, labeled Haynes ``misguided and misinformed.''

Lee noted that no one has advocated teaching ebonics as a substitute for English. She applauded the move by Oakland officials as ``a bold step forward.''

She said that teacher ignorance about how to guide students toward mastering English contributes to poor performance by many African-American students.

The Oakland effort also has been embraced by Los Angeles school board member Barbara Boudreaux, who has called for the Los Angeles Unified School District to expand a specialized program to teach English to African-American students.