Students at Pace High School are reading fewer full-length physical books in the classroom as the school faces tighter budgets and declining enrollment.
Instead of having classroom sets of novels or review books, literature focused classes are using paper packets, online PDFs or shared copies of books. The lack of physical books is causing students and teachers alike to feel frustrated.
AP English Literature teacher Mr. Pettersen explained that the lack of books mostly has to do with declining enrollment. As less students attend the school, the school gets less funding.
“When students leave the school, the school gets less funding,” Mr. Pettersen said. “We had something like 500 students at the school before, and now we’re looking at something like 400.”
Because of this, teachers are struggling to get enough classroom materials for students. Mr. Pettersen said he ordered Princeton Review AP Literature books at the beginning of the school year, thinking students would get them, but later found out the funding was no longer available.
“We had an idea that the school budget would be higher than we initially thought,” Mr. Pettersen explained. “But it turned out the school budget was way lower, and as a result of that, we weren’t able to get the books.”
Instead, students were given printed packets or online versions of readings. Mr. Pettersen also mentioned that even printing packets costs a lot of money because schools have to pay for paper and ink.
Some students said they feel like online reading makes learning harder. AP Literature students said that using online PDFs can make it difficult to focus compared to having a real book.
“These computers are designed to distract us,” Julia said. “When I have an actual book in front of me, it’s easier to concentrate and annotate.”
Another teacher, Mr. Wooh 12 grade English, explained that he sees both positive and negative sides to online books and paper materials in classrooms. He said that digital books can sometimes help students because they make it easier to find quotations and access work outside of school. He also mentioned that online articles can be more practical than printing paper packets because it saves paper and reduces waste. However, he still believes physical books are usually better for students because they help students stay focused and avoid distractions.
“Physical books are always a priority,” Wooh said. “There’s just less distractions with it.”
Mr. Wooh explained that online materials can improve access for students, especially when students are absent or when schools are waiting for book orders to arrive. At the same time, he admitted that having everything online can encourage students to rely more on AI or search online for answers instead of doing the reading themselves.
Still, Mr. Wooh believes teachers have different opinions on the issue. Some teachers prefer online materials because they are easier to distribute and cost less money, while others strongly prefer classroom sets of physical books. He also explained that, from his experience, schools usually find ways to get books eventually, even if budgets are tight or orders are delayed.
The issue also shows the difference between schools with more money and schools with less funding. While some private schools can give students brand-new books every year, many public school students share older copies or only get paper handouts. Some teachers even spend their own money on classroom supplies. Mr. Pettersen explained that some of the books in his classroom came from teachers-choice, a program that gives teachers a small amount of money to spend on materials.
Besides the funding issue, there is also a bigger conversation about how schools teach reading now. Some schools are moving away from teaching full novels and instead only teach sections or excerpts from books. Mr. Pettersen believes this can lower expectations for students.
“If we don’t expect students to read full books we don’t expect students to become full people and thinkers,” he said. Even though this problem is happening at one school, both students and teachers think it could be happening in many schools around the city. As budgets continue getting tighter and schools rely more on technology, students are left wondering if something important is being lost when classrooms no longer have enough books.
