Death to the Classics

In "Death to the Classics! Is it time to update the reading list? (Encarta.msn.com), Melissa Slager begs the question should high school English classes teach only classics in literature or should they teach newer material. She has examples of teachers who still believe in teaching only classics while a researcher says the trend is just to have students read anything as long as they are reading.  English professor Mark Bauerlein feels students should leave school with a sense of tradition yet Kipen of the National Endowment for the Arts feels there are many quality books and it shouldn’t be set in stone what they read.