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Yahoo
15 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Hillsborough school board grills superintendent over book removals
TAMPA — Days before he is expected to discuss his district's removal of library books before state leaders, Hillsborough County Schools Superintendent Van Ayres faced scrutiny from all directions at a heated school board meeting Monday — including from members of his own board. In May, Education Commissioner Manny Diaz sent a letter calling for the removal of two books from Hillsborough shelves over concerns about their content. The week after, Attorney General James Uthmeier followed up with a second letter asking about more 'pornographic materials in your school libraries.' In a response, Ayres wrote that all titles mentioned had been removed. He also said that to 'err on the side of caution,' all 600 titles that had been placed on a list for removal by any county in the state during the past two school years had been taken out of circulation and would be reviewed, even though no objections to them have risen through Hillsborough's existing process. Ayres' response garnered rancor from all sides. During the public comment portion of Monday's meeting, 10 people, arguing that they were against book bans and censorship, questioned why the books were still allowed in the district. Julie Gebhards, a mother of a former Newsome High School student, pointed to passages in books that were still allowed prior to the state's letter, including Toni Morrison's 'The Bluest Eye' and Chuck Palahniuk's 'Invisible Monsters.' 'I can't believe that nobody stood up and said, 'This does not belong in our schools,'' she said. Three people spoke against the district's move to remove the titles, which include classics like Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet,' a graphic adaptation of Anne Frank's diary and other Morrison titles that have been critically acclaimed for their discourse of race and gender. Jeanne Coleman, a parent of two former students, questioned why the existing process, which includes parental input and community standards, had been overstepped. 'I agree there has to be age appropriate books for students, but don't tell me that it's inappropriate if I think it's appropriate for my child to read,' she said. 'That's a parental decision.' But Ayres faced the most heat from the board. Board member Nadia Combs said she was initially pleased with how he handled Diaz' letter, and appreciated a conversation that reiterated that no one stood for age-inappropriate books in schools. But she said the board was blindsided by the response to Uthmeier's letter, sent from the board's attorney, and his quick decision to pull books 'I'm trying to process your lack of communication, the transparency, and also lack of knowledge and input from me,' Combs told Ayres. 'I'm very concerned with your decision making process on that.' Combs continued: 'You created a financial burden for librarians. … You did not engage with parents, you did not engage with our PTA, you did not engage with the union. You did not engage with your employees. You did not engage with your supervisors or your lead librarians, and I was not informed at all.' Ayres said that as superintendent, he bears the final responsibility of day-to-day operations. 'I needed to ensure that we don't have inappropriate materials in libraries, and that's my ultimate responsibility,' he said. School board attorney James Potter called the letters from the state an 'unprecedented situation' and said they'd work to develop protocol in the future. Board member Patti Rendon said she wished there was a special board meeting called or some form of prior review of the letter Ayres sent out. She and board member Lynn Gray questioned other district officials for not having evidence of process of compliance with state statutes that put board members and Ayres at risk. Board chairperson Jessica Vaughn also expressed frustration with Ayres. She believed the district overstepped media specialists hired to fill libraries, who she said put their own licenses on the line and face jail time if they do their job wrong. The district is offering a $1,500 stipend to certified media specialists to review the books outside of their contracted hours. Vaughn asked Ayres about the anticipated cost of the reviews. Ayres estimated around $345,000. 'That's the low end,' Vaughn said. 'On the higher end, it could be up to half a million dollars that this is costing us.' Van Ayres said he had concerns about the existing process, which he called 'not acceptable.' 'I wanted to ensure that ... come August, all books have been reviewed,' he said. 'And that was the action that I took, was to make those books under review and unavailable while that process took place.' Vaughn pushed Ayres on whether he notified parents or board members about his decision. When he said he did not, she asked whether other districts had these books on their libraries. Ayres said they did. 'I find it offensive that you say that it's your duty to protect our community from inappropriate books, because taking sexual content books and reading them out of context does not make them inappropriate,' Vaughn said. Ayres is expected to address Hillsborough County's book removal process before the state Board of Education on Wednesday in Miami.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Where does the censorship stop?
() If you remember visiting the local library as a child, you likely went with your mom or dad, a teacher or with nothing more than your bike and a backpack. Chances are state lawmakers or religious zealots did not escort you inside, and you didn't have to wonder whose stories were hidden behind locked doors or inside a vault because nothing was locked up. By 'whose stories,' I refer to those books that reflect the lives of readers who may not often be depicted in literature, much less in a positive manner. So, a Black child who can't read about racial prejudice in Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings might blame himself for his own race-based struggles in a white-dominated society. The child who was molested might blame himself until he reads another book often targeted by censors, Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. Or teenagers questioning their own sexual identity might fear they're the only ones with such a quandary until they read Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer. Kobabe's book was one of numerous books targeted by former state senator Jason Rapert of Conway during his tumultuous time on the Arkansas State Library Board. Recently, the Arkansas Legislature chose to abolish that board, which wasn't as censorship-prone as many lawmakers apparently wanted, and to have the governor appoint a new panel. As if that weren't bad enough, the legislature later approved a bill requiring librarians in schools with kindergarten through fifth-grade students to 'store non-age-appropriate sexual content … in a locked compartment within a designated area.' The bill defines 'non-age-appropriate sexual content' as 'any materials that include explicit instruction, promotion, or advocacy of sexual ideology, behaviors, or orientations that are not developmentally appropriate for kindergarten through grade five … students.' The law does not specify who decides what is age-appropriate. Arkansas' escalating campaign of censorship represents yet another vague, punitive, and politically motivated attempt to chill free expression and intimidate public servants. – Megan Bailey, communications director, ACLU of Arkansas, referring to Act 917 of 2025 This escalation in the war against libraries and public school teachers came after a federal judge in December struck down challenged provisions of Act 372 of 2023 which sought to criminalize librarians who provided minors with access to inappropriate books. Part of Act 372 that went unchallenged in court and that became law 'already requires school libraries to place books deemed to be inappropriate in an area inaccessible to students under 18,' said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom. So, why was the lock-'em-up measure, Act 917 of 2025, even needed? Perhaps, for show, for politicians to look tough when it comes to already-denigrated librarians and teachers. I asked Megan Bailey, communications director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, about the possibility of the ACLU's suing over Act 917. 'We are currently reviewing all options and are continuing to monitor how this and related laws are enforced,' Bailey replied. Referring to 'Arkansas' escalating campaign of censorship,' Bailey said Act 917 'represents yet another vague, punitive, and politically motivated attempt to chill free expression and intimidate public servants.' 'While it may appear narrower than Act 372 on its face, the lack of clarity around what constitutes 'developmentally appropriate' content — and the threat of civil lawsuits against libraries and librarians — creates a chilling effect that will likely lead to over-removal of lawful, constitutionally protected materials out of fear of retribution,' Bailey said in an email. Caldwell-Stone said in an email that, nationally, Act 917 'is unique in that it requires books that are deemed to include 'advocacy of sexual ideology, behaviors, or orientations' not developmentally appropriate for K-5 students to be kept under lock and key, requires parental permission to access such books, and includes provisions for punishing schools and educators who do not comply.' 'In targeting books that address or include themes about gender and sexual orientation, the law may be engaging in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination under the First Amendment. Additionally, the parental permission requirement could also be found unconstitutional and a violation of students' rights to access books in the school library,' Caldwell-Stone said. She noted that in 2003, a federal court ruled against the Cedarville, Arkansas, School Board when the court 'set aside a school board's requirement that students submit a written parental permission slip to access the Harry Potter series.' 'It held having to obtain parental permission to check out the books from the school library constituted a restriction on access that violated the students' First Amendment rights, given that the books had been restricted because school board members 'dislike[d] the ideas contained in those books,'' Caldwell-Stone said. 'Laws that impose ambiguous standards and threaten punishment for subjective violations raise serious First Amendment concerns. Librarians should not have to face punishment for failing to implement vague, content-based restrictions,' she added. Despite court rulings and astute cautions, books and intellectual freedom have long been targets of the morality police, though I can't remember a time when the far right targeted libraries in Arkansas as much as it has recently. Censorship was, of course, a hallmark of the late 1940s-50s McCarthy era, and I trust — no, I only hope — that few politicians today yearn to be identified with an era that blacklisted artists and censored books. (Case in point: Ray Bradbury's dystopian 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451, in which firefighters burn down any houses that contain outlawed books, was published 'for many years' only in a censored version, according to PEN America, a free-expression advocacy nonprofit.) Lest you think the ACLU, the ALA and I are overreacting, note that in 1965 the novel Black Beauty was banned in South Africa during that country's apartheid era because of the word 'Black' in the title, according to PEN America. In the United States, the first book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series became the most often challenged book in libraries from 2000-2009, according to the American Library Association. And the U.S. Naval Academy, responding to President Donald Trump's anti-diversity orders, removed nearly 400 volumes from its library this year. Where does the censorship stop? Should the Bible be banned because it features stories of polygamy, incest and horrific death? I say no. But if the censors are consistent, they will say yes.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
After a sometimes graphic debate, Texas House advances bill limiting kids' access to sexually explicit books in libraries
A debate in the Texas House over whether to limit children's access to books with sexually explicit material in libraries turned heated and philosophical Friday: What's the definition of sexual conduct? How should teens learn about sex? Are classics like The Bluest Eye and Madame Bovary explicit? 'This is a simple bill intended to protect our Texas kids,' Rep. Daniel Alders, R-Tyler and author of House Bill 3225, said on Friday. 'This bill addresses a real issue that we have seen in our public libraries across the state, and it does so in a way that is reasonable as well as effective. It's not a complicated bill. It shouldn't be controversial.' Nearly two hours of debate following the bill's layout stood to differ. Democrats lined up one after another, offering numerous amendments and rebuttals to argue that the bill was too sweeping and would restrict teenagers from accessing books that could help them make sense of typical teenage tribulations — from puberty and relationships to sex and masturbation. 'You are conflating sexually explicit or dangerous conduct with basic health information for puberty, which hits people in their early teen years,' Rep. Ann Johnson, D-Houston, said in opposition to the proposal. House Bill 3225 would require public libraries to require parental consent for anyone under 18 to check out books deemed to contain 'sexually explicit' material. The bill defines such material as depicting 'sexual conduct,' which includes 'actual or simulated sexual intercourse,' 'masturbation,' and 'sado-masochistic abuse.' The bill allows for a civil penalty up to $10,000 to be imposed on libraries that do not comply, and it tasks the Texas State Library and Archives Commission with establishing guidelines for libraries to annually review their collections. The House preliminarily passed the bill, 82 to 53, on a largely party line vote. The measure is part of a broader effort by state leaders to more tightly control the books put in public libraries and remove sexually explicit literature. Critics have argued the efforts target books that explore themes of gender and sexuality, and that center LGBTQ characters and people of color. After one more vote in the House, usually a formality, the bill will move on to the Senate. Books that could fall under the bill's definition of 'sexually explicit' include classics and common high school reading including Wuthering Heights, The Lord of the Rings, As I Lay Dying and Catch-22, Rep. Erin Zwiener, D-Driftwood, said. (The bill maintains an exception for 'religious materials.') She emphasized the value of teens reading and engaging with stories that covered topics like puberty and sex, and argued that public libraries were a preferable site to social media for teens to learn about those topics. 'It is actually incredibly valuable for our young people to have the opportunity to enter the lives and experiences of others, to figure out how they feel about some of these things,' Zwiener said. 'Reading a book about another 16-year-old who is making a decision about whether or not to have sex helps that minor who's reading that book make a good decision.' She offered an amendment to lower the bill's age restrictions to apply only to those under 13 years old. Lawmakers rejected the amendment, 86 to 58. 'We all know that the five-year-old and the 17-year-old are very different,' Zwiener said. 'Teenagers have a different experience. They need access to different information. Being minors does not prevent them from potentially ending up in a sexual situation.' Republicans said that the bill would not regulate the kinds of information young people could access, and simply seeks to give that ability to parents. More importantly, they argued, the bill would protect children from unwittingly encountering explicit material. 'It's important that we protect our kids in the state of Texas and ensure that they can access the books in their public library for their benefit, for their good,' Alders said, 'and are not confronted unknowingly with material that is going to potentially traumatize them for the rest of their life.' Democrats said they agreed that children should be protected from pornographic material, and noted that it is already illegal to share pornography with minors. But the bill, they argued, was misguided and overly broad. And they worried it could functionally lead public libraries to deny teens access to any book outside the children's section. 'The over sexualization of children is a problem — but it ain't happening in your public libraries,' Johnson said, adding that she felt like she was in the movie, 'Footloose.' Libraries are 'a healthy place of education,' she said. 'And for all these parents that always say, 'I don't want my kid to get access to this information,' — I promise you, they are getting access to the information. And the ones you should not be afraid of are the books that are in your public library.' The debate itself grew personal and graphic at times, with Johnson pressing Alders on the definitions of 'sexual bestiality' and 'sado-masochistic abuse,' and on when he, as a teenage boy decades ago, first learned about masturbation. 'Masturbation. Do we know about it?' Johnson said. Alders denied that it was a tenant of standard health education. 'Masturbation is not basic teenage health? Do you really, as a young man, want to describe to me when you had to learn about that?' Johnson said. 'I would bet, at some point, you as a young man needed to have the discussion with somebody about what masturbation meant.' 'That's not a question I expected to be asked on the House floor,' Alders said. Zwiener, advocating for her amendment lowering the age restriction to those under 13, shared that she was sexually assaulted at 17 years old — and reflected on the difference a book mirroring her experience could have made. 'The right book might have helped me figure out that I didn't make a mistake — that somebody wronged me — much earlier,' she said. She highlighted a scene in The Perks of Being A Wallflower, a young adult novel, in which a young man witnesses a sexual assault at a party and understands that something wrong is happening. 'That's a scene that encourages our teenagers to intervene if they see sexual assault occurring,' she said. 'It is a scene that encourages teenagers to be mindful of consent when they're in situations with each other, and it's a scene that helps victims of sexual assault understand it's not their fault. Our teenagers should have access to books that help them learn those lessons, regardless of whether or not their parent will sign a permission slip.' First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
CBS News
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Banned books return to a Colorado school district's shelves as legal battle continues
Nineteen books are back on the shelves at the Elizabeth School District in Colorado after being removed and disposed of in September. Earlier this month, a preliminary injunction ordered the banned books be returned to shelves while an ACLU lawsuit against the district plays out. The Elizabeth School District appealed. On Monday, an appeals court denied that request and gave the district a deadline to re-shelve the books by Friday at noon. But the books were already replaced as of Thursday afternoon, according to the superintendent of Elizabeth Schools. "Obviously we're disappointed. We still feel like there's a lack of understanding of the content of these books, but obviously we're complying with the court order," said Dan Snowberger, superintendent of Elizabeth Schools. It's a win for the ACLU, who brought suit against the district alleging the removal violated free speech protections. "We think government ought to be out of the business of telling people the ideas that are acceptable," said Tim Macdonald, legal director for the ACLU of Colorado. Most of the books feature stories of LGBTQ+ individuals or people of color. Titles include Toni Morrison's Beloved, The Kite Runner, The Hate U Give and Thirteen Reasons Why. The books in question are as follows: "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas "Beloved" by Toni Morrison "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini "You Should See Me in a Crown" by Leah Johnson "#Pride: Championing LGBTQ Rights" by Rebecca Felix "George" (now published and referred to as "Melissa") by Alex Gino "It's Your World-If You Don't Like It, Change It" by Mikki Halpin "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher "Looking for Alaska" by John Green "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Picoult "Crank" by Ellen Hopkins "Glass" by Ellen Hopkins "Fallout" by Ellen Hopkins "Identical" by Ellen Hopkins "Burned" by Ellen Hopkins "Smoke" by Ellen Hopkins "Redwood and Ponytail" by K.A. Holt. "It's a viewpoint discrimination, and it's a violation of the First Amendment and the Colorado Constitution to say we're going to take books out because we don't agree with the political orthodoxy. They don't align with our political values, and so we're going to purge them. The Constitution prohibits that," Macdonald said. "These are not books about LGBTQ or people of color. These are books that have obscene content and that children should not access them at school," Snowberger said. Snowberger says the books were thrown away with support from a majority of parents, and three months later, the ACLU filed the lawsuit. "Anyone who reads content in the books sees a graphic depiction of child rape, sees graphic depictions of incest, sees directions on how to commit suicide, sees vivid descriptions of school shootings. People who feel that belongs in child's hands -- it's sad. I'm very sad about that," Snowberger said. When the district was ordered to return books to shelves, law firm Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell donated copies of the books to the district, but the board voted to reject them. "The Elizabeth School District claimed it could not comply with the court's injunction because the school district already had disposed of the books. As part of our representation of our clients in the case, we provided copies of the books used during the litigation to the school district's lawyer to help facilitate the school district's compliance with the federal court order," a firm spokesperson told CBS Colorado. But after the district's appeals failed, new copies were donated by a local group that wishes to remain anonymous, and returned to shelves Thursday. "We'll put them on the sensitive topic list so that parents who are concerned about this type of content can protect their children from accessing it," Snowberger said. According to Snowberger, the books were primarily shelved in the high school, with one title in an elementary school and five in the middle school. The district received the exact number of copies as they threw out. For most of these titles, the district only ever had one copy. Many of these books have been on the school's shelves for decades, and some have never been checked out. While the books are back in schools, the legal battle isn't over. "The case will move forward in the trial court, and we look forward to prevailing at trial," Macdonald said. "We don't want a liberal school district saying you can't have conservative ideas in the school library. And we don't want self-described conservative school districts saying, 'Here are ideas that we disagree with, and we don't want in the library.'" "We'll take this to court until we get the outcome we need to. There has not been a decision on library books from the Supreme Court since 1982," Snowberger said. Macdonald says this is the first case of its kind that's been litigated in Colorado to his knowledge, but he says it's part of a concerning trend of book banning in the country. "Some groups that have cropped up, like a group called Moms for Liberty, that has pushed an agenda of banning books that involve LGBTQ+ characters or authors and diverse authors. And we've seen it around the country, and it looks like that's the playbook that was run in the Elizabeth School District," Macdonald said. There is no trial date set yet, but both sides say they're prepared to take this fight to the Supreme Court.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Penfield school decides to keep controversial books on library shelf
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — A book committee appointed by the Penfield Central School District has made its decision to keep three library books that received objection from parents. 'The Rainbow Parade,' 'Aliens and Other Visitors,' and 'The Bluest Eye' will stay on the library shelves after the review committee 'determined these books should remain in circulation at our school libraries.' In February, parents in Penfield raised concerns to the Penfield school board after allegations a kindergartener came home with 'The Rainbow Parade,' which is said to have illustrations of men and women at a pride parade wearing limited or no clothing. During the meeting a school board official stated these librarians follow strict curriculum that shows them what is allowed for specific ages and students. The district also outlined its policy for expressing concerns about reading material and claimed no written complaints were submitted. The district later said after that board meeting, it received multiple 'threatening and vulgar' messages, leading to the cancellation of multiple meetings due to the threats. The meetings resumed in April with security. 'We understand that some families will be happy with this decision, and others may bedisappointed,' Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction Dr. Leslie Maloney said. 'For those who are dissatisfied with this decision, we want to emphasize that these books are not part of the curriculum, and parents have the right to flag their child's account to prevent them from taking specific books out of the library.' The district released re-evaluation reports for each title, which can be viewed below: re-evaluation_report_for_the_rainbow_parade_1Download re-evaluation_report_for_alien_1Download re-evaluation_report_for_the_bluest_eye_1Download Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
