Students Receive Summer Reading List from LI School District Riddled with Errors

LongIsland.com

An attempt to encourage students to read more books during the summer leaves many scratching their heads. Ever heard of "The Great Gypsy" or how about the author George Ornell of "Animal Farm"?

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Hempstead public school students from pre-kindergarten to grade 12 received a summer reading list from the school district encouraging them to read more books because “Those who read more, achieve more,” according to the document.  But, it appears that those responsible for preparing and reviewing the document before distribution may need to do a bit more reading themselves. The summer reading list was riddled with spelling and grammatical errors.

Some of the mistakes included the misspelling of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” to “The Great Gypsy,” Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” to “I Know Why Caged Birds Sing,” the author of “Animal Farm” was referred to George Ornell instead of George Orwell and the reading list included titles for eleventh and “twelve” grades.

In response to this, a member of the New York State Department of Education’s Board of Regents, which oversees the schools could only admit to the mistakes and point out the need for a more stable administration.

In a statement, it said, “It indicates again that a stable administration is absolutely essential for kids to get the kind of education they need. Hempstead had not had a stable administration for a long time and the kids are suffering.”

In a statement provided by the school district: “We deeply apologize for any errors contained on our summer reading list,” according to reporting from PIX 11.

For a copy of the memo and the full list of summer reading recommendations, click here. Keep in mind that some of the listed authors and titles provided may not exist due to misspellings.

LongIsland.com also has its very own 2013 Summer Reading Series featuring titles for all ages to check out.

[Source: PIX 11]