I was one of those white rural kids who went to speech class. That started in the English speaking school in Tokyo, Japan, at the army base, where I began my education. Why? I had a lisp, and struggled to make myself understood. I wasn't an underserved student--I was well served. And so were the other kids, regardless of skin color, who got the speech therapy they needed.

Some of that need was due to hearing impairments, which was also identified and treated. Some of the words we needed to learn demanded more articulate speech that we'd managed to acquire at that point in our lives.