| English department lacks textbooks (11/07) | | Print | |
| Written by Lydia O'Connor | |
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Some sophomore English classes will lack mandatory textbooks until a textbook request to the district is filled. Assistant principal Mary Streshly volunteered two possible reasons for the 23-book shortage. “Either the 10-day count (at the beginning of the year) was off, or we got additional sophomores,” said Streshly, who sent in the request to the district. In fact, according to English teacher Cathy Innis, the sophomore class gained 40 students over the summer. This is not an unusual occurrence. There are “always sophomore transfers,” more than in any other grade, English department head Svein Arber explained. Innis added that textbook shortages are common during times of budget cuts. “We’re under real financial constraints right now,” she said According to Streshly, teachers will share textbooks until the request is filled. “We’re gathering books from teachers who have extras,” Streshly said. “If we wait for the district, it will be too slow.” All students do, however, have “interactive reader” books, a supplement to the textbooks, according to both Streshly and Arber. Sophomore English teacher Lorna Galang, who has not been able to distribute the texts to one of her classes, said she uses the books sparingly. “Normally I find that the selections in the book aren’t up to par with what we teach at Lowell,” she said. Some teachers do use the books in class instruction, however. “I use the textbooks for 10th grade poetry,” sophomore English teacher David Yuan said. While the shortage violates the Williams Act, which requires that all students have a textbook, Arber said he does not plan to file a complaint. “It’s not a huge deal,” he said. “It’s (about) 20 books out of 700.” Students without textbooks did not express concern. “We’ve been using Romeo and Juliet and Huckleberry Finn,” sophomore Jewel Conrad said, “so not having a textbook hasn’t affected me.” The Student Advisory Council is considering getting involved in the problem of textbook shortages. The district sends books to schools before they know the exact amount of students coming. SAC member junior Celi Tamayo-Lee said the topic of textbook shortages came up at an SAC meeting in October, and members considered sending out surveys asking students if they have ever not received textbooks. “SAC is trying to figure out how we as a student voice can impact this,” Tamayo-Lee said. She added that the SAC encourages students to attend the Board of Education meetings and bring up any problems they may have. |
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