It feels inappropriate for a teacher of English literature to be dismissing the western canon as a bunch of old white men droning on about shit no one cares about. If that's her attitude, her students are either going to pick it up themselves, or worse, if they've been reading from a young age and happen to actually love and enjoy the classics, they'll feel dismissed themselves as if their tastes are invalid in the modern era.
A curriculum should update over time, but there's plenty of value in having a canon. It's a shared point of reference to create a common culture. Fashions, music, television to streaming video or whatever, might all change rapidly, but at least give parents and children something they're both familiar with. Beyond that, it can in and of itself create the kind of urbane cosmopolitan widening of one's circle of appreciation and belonging she seems to want kids to experience. Reading old material teaches you that there actually are common elements to all human experience. Even old white guys from hundreds of years ago had the same hopes, fears, desires, and bodily experiences you have. We're not so different from each other, let alone fully defined by our skin color and century of origin to the point that alien cultures can never have any hope of appreciating and empathizing with each other. Les Miserables is about inequality, poverty, abuses of law enforcement, overcoming modest beginnings to achieve great things, giving back to the less fortunate. How the fuck are these not relevant modern topics you'd want children to read about? Let them know these are not new concerns and even old white men might be more progressive and empathetic than you assume based purely on their age and skin color.
> It's a shared point of reference to create a common culture.
Sure but if we're talking about the US why does that canon have to almost exclusively consist of European and white American authors? Modern America has a diversity of family histories so I'd expect its schools to cover a diversity of literary sources that reflect this. If it were just American authors, you might have a point, but _Les Mis_ is neither integral to American culture as it exists today nor to anything it was before. Something also tells me the kids don't need _Les Mis_ to learn to embrace social justice and oppose abuses of power.
Speaking as a (not quite but getting there) old white man: if the kids need books to understand we might be progressive and empathetic, we've failed at being progressive and empathetic and they're right to think otherwise.
A curriculum should update over time, but there's plenty of value in having a canon. It's a shared point of reference to create a common culture. Fashions, music, television to streaming video or whatever, might all change rapidly, but at least give parents and children something they're both familiar with. Beyond that, it can in and of itself create the kind of urbane cosmopolitan widening of one's circle of appreciation and belonging she seems to want kids to experience. Reading old material teaches you that there actually are common elements to all human experience. Even old white guys from hundreds of years ago had the same hopes, fears, desires, and bodily experiences you have. We're not so different from each other, let alone fully defined by our skin color and century of origin to the point that alien cultures can never have any hope of appreciating and empathizing with each other. Les Miserables is about inequality, poverty, abuses of law enforcement, overcoming modest beginnings to achieve great things, giving back to the less fortunate. How the fuck are these not relevant modern topics you'd want children to read about? Let them know these are not new concerns and even old white men might be more progressive and empathetic than you assume based purely on their age and skin color.