However, McLeroy said he directed a group of experts to add examples of "good literature" to the list. He said students should spend their time in English class learning English and reading literature that will help prepare them for college.
"What good does it do to put a Chinese story in an English book?" he said. "You learn all these Chinese words, OK. That's not going to help you master ... English. So you really don't want Chinese books with a bunch of crazy Chinese words in them. Why should you take a child's time trying to learn a word that they'll never ever use again?"
He added that some words — such as chow mein — might be useful.
Thank you, sir for your wise words. You're a great example for my children of a mature respectful adult.I particularly like a quotation they included from the great poet, Sandra Cisneros:
Tyroff said missing from the list is local author Sandra Cisneros' book "House on Mango Street." However, Cisneros said Friday she doesn't think there should be a recommended list at all. Instead, educators should choose books to which students can relate.
"I feel it's just important that we select books that might speak to young people at whatever age that reader is," Cisneros said. "A lot of times, people who aren't used to books aren't going to read ... books that they find intimidating."
Anyway, just thought i'd post that (saw it on angry asian man) since we were talking about "canon" and what is considered "greatest hits," etc. I think this up what the Board feels is the purpose of education.