The fact that your child's "attention" problems are selective (e.g. only in certain subjects) suggest that he is capable of paying attention when the subjects are comprehensible and meaningful.
I would first talk with your child about the two subjects he did poorly in to determine his own attitudes and feelings--ask him what he'd like to see happen in these subjects (as far as books read, kinds of writing assignments etc). Then schedule an appointment with the teacher, bring your child and together talk about your concerns. Work cooperatively, not antagonistically, to see if there are ways in which your child's interest can be activated in these areas.
While there may be a small precentage of children whose attention difficulties are biologically-rooted, I believe the vast majority of kids so labeled have difficulty paying attention because they aren't being provided with an appropriate environment in which to learn. As far as rights are concerned, ADD does not yet qualify as a handicapping condition (efforts are being made in Wahsington D.C. in that direction but there is widespread opposition from many educational and children's rights groups).
You could pursue the avenue of having your child labeled "learning disabled" and then have many legal rights supporting you--however as you point out, your child probably doesn't need the label, and may not even benefit from the special education programs (sometimes these are even worse). See if you can get your child's teacher to see the best in him--and work together to develop ways for him to develop an excitement about reading and laguage arts activities.
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