I am submitting the following for inclusion on the GHS reading
list:
”
A harrowing tale of one middle class family’s struggle to
educate their children.
I am submitting the following for inclusion on the GHS reading list: “A harrowing tale of one middle class family’s struggle to educate their children. The plot unfolds in a small California city; where we encounter the frustration of one mother who endeavors to see that her children receive an adequate education. Along the way, she meets other parents who have fought their own long battles to get a quality public education in present day California. Underlying themes of isolation, bitterness, and inequity abound.” Oh wait – I can’t submit that book for consideration, I haven’t written my autobiography yet.
The above is only slightly tongue-in-cheek. I sat through a marathon meeting this week of the Gilroy High School Honors Work Group. This meeting provided a year-end report of the collaborative work of a group of parents, teachers and administrators. A survey of students in the honors classes showed a high degree of satisfaction. The English department chair also had very positive comments about the honors pilot program.
All in all, I am feeling very optimistic about the future availability of honors classes across all disciplines at Gilroy High School. My only concerns upon leaving this meeting were about process. There needs to be a mechanism in place that allows parents and students to adequately address deficiencies in the system. The deficiency could be the teacher. Maybe a teacher who is not suited to teaching an honors class needs to be removed. The problem could be a student who is not able to keep up in a rigorous course.
Personally, I would support open access to honors classes for all students at or above grade level based on at least one of the indicators (MAP scores, standardized test scores or grades). Then again, the deficiency could be in the course itself, where once again we meet up with the prickly issue of reading lists. This meeting provided me with my first opportunity to see the rationale behind the selection of books on the Gilroy High reading lists. There is a required list, a supplemental list, and list for specific courses such as British Authors or Chicano literature.
Imagine my surprise at seeing my praise for the book “Beloved” as a rationale to have the book on the required reading list. In addition, reviews by students who read the book were also included as rationale for keeping the book on the list. As stated previously, I have no problem with “Beloved.” I think it is highly questionable that my personal opinion of the book should be given any consideration by the Gilroy School Board. I’m betting the majority of trustees are sick of me by now.
If I were writing the rationale for “Beloved” I would note its inclusion on the College Board list of 101 “must reads” for high school students. I might note that it is one of four “First Place” titles on the “Harvard Book Store’s 100 Favorite Titles”; the other top spots going to “1984”, “One Hundred Years of Solitude”, and “A People’s History of the United States.” While perusing lists of great literature, I saw “Beloved” included as often as works by Joyce, Hemingway, Chaucer and Shakespeare. It would be more difficult to come up with a rationale for taking the book off the list than keeping it on.
Since someone over at Gilroy High is reading this column, I will make a final plea for one book to be removed from the required list. “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros appears on no list of great literature. The rationale for keeping it on seems to be that it is written by a Chicana writer, and it deals with alienation. What is so troubling to me is that the book is really targeted for middle school readers, and is not in the same category as most of the other books on the high school list.
If there is a quota to be filled by a Latina author, and I don’t know if that is the case, then I would suggest “When I was Puerto Rican” by Esmeralda Santiago. For Honors and AP English classes, I would suggest more Shakespeare and less of the contemporary works. Many of the “contemporary classics” can be read on a weekend or at the beach. “Crime and Punishment” and “King Lear” and “The Federalist Papers” are well suited to class reading and discussion.
The deficiencies in our academic curriculum have been systematically overlooked for the past few years. The Alliance for Academic Excellence, the Honors Work group, the Superintendent’s Parent Advisory Council and others have been spending the past year working to improve the academic culture at all our school sites. I know that I won’t be satisfied until Gilroy High School is recognized as an outstanding college preparatory school. I have miles to go before I sleep.
