"Whoever wrote that paper doesn't know the first thing about Kurt Vonnegut"
Posted on 07/13/2009 8:14:22 PM PDT by Maelstorm
Litchfield – Litchfield school officials reacted swiftly to an outcry from parents concerned about stories students were assigned to read in a Campbell High School English class.
"Some of these stories contained explicit, vulgar and gratuitous language and school administrators have determined that these stories are not appropriate for a high school curriculum," School Superintendent Elaine Cutler said in a statement yesterday.
She said some stories assigned in the Short Stories class have been immediately removed from the curriculum and the entire course will be "reviewed and revised" over the summer.
The statement comes one day after approximately 25 parents and community members attended a school board meeting to voice their concerns.
"In this case, there was an error in judgement," school board Chairman Dennis Miller said. "We want to reassure the public this is not something we want taught."
Parent Sue Ann Johnson first raised concerns to Campbell administrators on June 8 when she sent Shorts Stories teacher Meredith Potter an e-mail after learning the David Sedaris story "I Like Guys," about the author's exploration of his own sexuality, was assigned to her son.
"When talking with our children about school work, we discovered an assignment regarding a story that my husband and I believe to be completely inappropriate for high school," Johnson wrote to Potter. She said the story, "left me wondering who is in charge of what our children are exposed to under the guise of 'education.'"
In correspondence provided by Johnson, Potter wrote back that "the essay is in an approved textbook, and I am sorry if you feel it is inappropriate. I did not write the curriculum for the class, but am following the one that was established previously and approved by the school administration.
"If you have further concerns, I can only point you to the English department curriculum facilitator, Kathleen Reilly."
Other stories that were questioned included "The Crack Cocaine Diet" by Laura Lippman, an Ernest Hemingway short story that includes statutory rape and discussion about abortion, and the Stephen King story "Survivor Type."
Johnson said she met four days later with Reilly, who she said defended the inclusion of the Sedaris story as well as others.
Reilly did not respond to a request for comment last night.
The decision of the district to remove the stories was lauded by Johnson and Kevin Smith, a Litchfield resident who is the executive director of the conservative Cornerstone Policy Research.
"Hopefully, someone will be held accountable," said Smith, who also attended Wednesday's meeting. "But this is a great first step. I think it shows common sense prevailed in this case."
Smith said his group made phone calls to Litchfield residents before the school board meeting to make them aware of the issue.
"The first step is up to parents to make sure this stuff isn't being taught in their child's classroom," Smith said.
State Rep. Laura Gandia, who also attended Wednesday's meeting, said she requested the subject of curriculum to be put on the agenda for next Wednesday's school board meeting.
"There are still unanswered questions," Gandia said. "People still need to be held accountable."
Class of '82 here. Catcher in the Rye was required reading at my high school. Also required were 1984, The Hobbit (which I'd already read), and Fahrenheit 451, in addition to a few classics. (We read Judy Blume's "Wifey" in secret.)
Then in college, our English professor assigned James Joyce and Kurt Vonnegut.
Never heard of him. But, your post led me to do a search, and I came across what must be some of the funniest skits ever (lol). The school must’ve gone out of its way to find the other story to suit its agenda.
I read “Survivor Type” when I was young. Strong story.
What ever happened to Thurber, Hawthorne, Kipling.......?
Vonnegut is delightful, but I'd rather have my spleen removed with a butter knife than read another Joyce novel (there is nothing more painful than Finnegan's Wake).
Class of ‘82 as well: Tale of two Cities, The Canterbury Tales, tons of Shakespeare. “Out, Out, damned spot!”
Litchfield school officials reacted swiftly to an outcry from parents concerned about stories students were assigned to read in a Campbell High School English class."Some of these stories contained explicit, vulgar and gratuitous language and school administrators have determined that these stories are not appropriate for a high school curriculum,"
I'm getting olllllllld.
When I was in HS back in the 60's, having 'Catcher In The Rye' would get you suspended for a week, 'Lolita' was banned outright and even 'Catch-22' would get you a raised eyebrow.
But on the up side, back then we didn't have perverts and commies running the schools (Chicago)
David Sedaris is overrated. Mrs WBill reads him, I've picked up her books once in awhile. He's a gay man that's mistaken Bitchy, Snarky Comments for biting wit. Think a Gay David Spade, times 10.
No idea why Sedaris would be in a classroom, either.
"Yeah sure - call me sometime when you've got no class"
Bravo! Keep the pressure on the schools, and don’t give up the fight. All that’s required for evil to succeed...
I forgot, Canterbury Tales was required for us, too. I probably wanted to forget it because the teacher didn't like me, and in assigning each of us to read before the class in one of the roles, she assigned me to the role of the manure shoveler... lol.
Luckily, the professor assigned us a Joyce book that was a series of short stories. :-) The novel we read was Vonnegut’s “Mother Night”.
Sorry to bring up that unfavorable “repressed memory”!! She must have had it in for you!
The 80’s were great, weren’t they?
That is exactly right. We just need to stand up because if we don’t we will be silenced.
Homo perverts used to lurk in public toilets. Now they run our public schools
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Now they run the stinking Country.
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