I remember back in school there was an underground market in comic books. My buddy Howard and I were the two that had the largest collections (I believe he may have had a bigger collection than I did; was many moons ago). One constant: A teacher found a book and that book disappeared.

Now, the AP is reporting that comics are being turned to in education as ways to get kids to read more.

In Maryland, the State Education Department is expanding a new comics-based literacy curriculum, after a small pilot program yielded promising results. In New York City, a group of educators applied to open a new small high school that would be based around a comics theme and named after the creators of Superman; their application was rejected but they plan to try again next year.

That is about twenty shades of awesome. There is some dissent, however:

“If you’re going to use comics in the classroom at all, which I have serious doubts about, it should be only as a motivational tool,” said Diane Ravitch, an education professor at New York University. “What teachers have to recognize is that this is only a first step.”

Spoilsport.

Check out the full article here, and cheer on the pioneers!