The face of English education is not always changing for the better. Education as a whole has made great strides over the past 50 years, thanks to the contribution of many other factors, including technology, new teaching techniques and improved teacher training, among other things. One of the areas that has changed the most is English education. There have been three recurring issues that have persisted over the past decades. These are debates that contain valid arguments on both sides of the issue, which is why no real solutions have been proposed. The first and one of the most debated topics even outside the classroom is the debate between fiction and non-fiction. The current push is toward more nonfiction toward the high school level. It has been studied that the percentage of reading done for English in eighth grade is around 55% and only four years later in 12th grade it rises to 77%. The push for more nonfiction stems from the belief that our English education focuses too much on self-expression. Which many say is a skill that can be used in the workplace (Mosle). Even with this push toward nonfiction reading, scores for 17-year-olds haven't shown much improvement since the 1980s (Mathews). The problem may not be the quantity of non-fiction or its existence in the English curriculum, the problem leans more towards the quality and type of non-fiction taught. The nonfiction currently taught is usually fiction. There is a subgenre of nonfiction that will entertain children and give them the skills they need by reading nonfiction. This subgenre is literary fiction. There are many examples of these types of texts and novels that can be taught, but they rarely are. An extremely popular and best-selling example of a quarrel... middle of paper... that we must address to continually provide a good foundation of English for future generations. Reading and writing well will continue to be lifelong skills that will ensure success later in life. By addressing some of the problems that our English teachers face we will continue to produce educated children. Works Cited1. Brenyo, Michael. “The Book Ban in the U.S. Education System.” Journal of Law and Education. Jul. 2011: 541. SIRS Issues Researcher. Network. March 19, 2014.2. Toppo, Greg. “Contemporary vs. Classic.” United States today. Yahoo!, 24 5 2004. Web. 1 April 2014.3. Damschen, Kalli. “Classics vs Contemporary: Perhaps schools should try to find more balance between the genres available to readers.” Standard examiner. Standard Examiner, 30 4 2012. Web. 1 April 2014.4. Mosle, Sarah. “What Kids Should Read.” New York Times. The New York Times Company, 22 11 2012. Web. 13 April 2014.