Published November 1991 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
Byrd's-Eye View By U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd A Disturbing Trend In School Textbooks Americans are increasingly concerned about the quality of education in our country, and are searching for explanations for poor student performance in some of our schools. One problem might be some of the schoolbooks that are used today. In an earlier time, for example, reading textbooks taught a love of literature as well as reading. Thus, the famous McGuffey's Eclectic Readers offered selections from the best classic literature and poetry to tantalize children into mastering basic reading skills and wanting to read more. According to a noted historian of education, the McGuffey readers were the most popular series ever used in America, introducing students to the best authors and poets, and challenging them with high ideals and patriotic values. Some years ago, however, certain experts decided that reading speed and easiness should be the goal of the schools, not teaching appreciation of good literature, inculcating values and patriotism, or preparing young people for citizenship. In attempts to make textbooks easier, "readability" displaced quality, with the result that, according to The Washington Post, one popular history book offered in the early 1980's carried six pages on Marilyn Monroe but only three brief references to George Washington. Current literature anthologies regularly feature vapid tales of contemporary teenagers wrestling with problems concerning dating, their parents, or their automobiles, in preference to the Gettysburg Address, Irving's Rip Van Winkle, or Robert Frost's poems. Too often, when classic stories are used, they are rewritten in dull vocabulary and choppy, childish sentences. In defense of these practices, textbook editors claim that serious literature is too difficult for many children and teenagers, that students might lose interest in school or sink in their own self esteem if the books are too advanced, and that various special interest groups might be offended by classic writings. Growing up in southern West Virginia, I was fortunate to have dedicated teachers and challenging textbooks that awakened in me a love of learning that has never been quenched. I cherish the hope of that same experience for the children of West Virginia today. Perhaps the McGuffey readers and other classic anthologies and textbooks are models by which we can promote excellence in education even today. November 6, 1991