The Trouble with Textbooks

In USA Today, English teacher Patrick Welsh writes: "Faced with declining literacy and the ever-growing distractions of the electronic media, faced with the fact that—Harry Potter fans aside—so few kids curl up with a book and read for pleasure anymore, what do we teachers do? We saddle students with textbooks that would turn off even the most passionate reader." A lengthy, lively bill of particulars follows.

[Via Sam Smith.]