In August, 2007, Debbie Almontaser was the interim principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy in Brooklyn, an Arabic language public high school she had worked with the New York City Department of Education for two years to establish. Though the school was secular (a point Almontaser sought to emphasize by naming the school for the famous Christian Lebanese poet), [...]
Letter to Leesburg City Commission Aug 21, 2009
Voices Against Book Censorship interviews author, blogger Lee Wind
The Kids’ Right To Read Project sent a letter today to the Chair of the Litchfield District’s School Board opposing the removal of several titles from Campbell High School’s upper-class elective “Love/Gender/Family” unit. KRRP also interviewed Andy Towne, a member of the Class of 2007 at Campbell High School after he authored an op-ed for The Nashua Telegraph about the [...]
On June 18, the Litchfield District School Board in New Hampshire decided to remove four short stories from the “Love/Gender/Family” unit of an upper-class elective English class at Campbell High School. The stories, including "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway, "Survivor Type" by Stephen King, "The Crack Cocaine Diet" by Laura Lippman, and "I Like Guys" by David Sedaris.
The Kids' Right To Read Project sent a letter today to the Leesburg Public Library Advisory Board applauding their decision to keep two challenged books on the shelves in the Young Adult section without labeling or restricting them in any way. We also urged the Board to uphold its decision during an appeals process. Libraries serve every member of the [...]
The Kids' Right to Read Project opposes the removal of Vibe magazine from Randolph High School's library in Randolph, WI after the school's principal, Tom Erdmann complained about the magazine's“gang violence/activity” and “gang symbols/materials.” Dr. Greg Peyer Superintendent Randolph School District 110 Meadowood Drive Randolph, WI 53956 [...]
NCAC urges Superintendent to reverse his decision to ban student play On February 25, school board members in La Grande, OR voted to uphold Superintendent Larry Glaze’s decision to censor a student production of Steve Martin’s “Picasso at the Lapin Agile”, ignoring spirited and articulate appeals from the High School principal and drama teacher. It was yet another disturbing [...]
Natalie Jones, a sixth grade student at Mt. Woodson Elementary School, CA was censored earlier this month after her principal and superintendent failed to apply Ramona United School District's policy reasonably and professionally. Natalie was told she would only be allowed to give her independent research project class presentation on Harvey Milk during lunchtime recess and then only to students [...]
6/23/2009 updated 11/5/2010 — In April 2009, students in Knoxville, Tennessee successfully challenged the Internet filtering policy in place at their school which was blocking access to LGBT websites. After the ACLU filed a lawsuit on the students' behalf, the school districts in question consented to change the filter settings that were unconstitutionally blocking the websites.
On Friday, March 26, the Texas Board of Education struck down a bill that required evolution be taught with consideration of the "strengths and weaknesses" of the theory. The new bill, however, is not a striking victory for advocates of depolicized, science-based education. According to the NCSE: ...the revised biology standard (7B) reflects two discredited creationist ideas — that "sudden [...]
The Kids' Right to Read Project opposed a challenge to Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar (Hachette) and The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson (Peguin) in the Leesburg, Florida Public Library in April 2009 after a parent objected to the sexual content and drug references in the books. KRRP sent this letter in response to the challenge.
Following good news of Steve Martin’s bailout, there’s more bad news on the high school drama front. USA Today reports on the firing of a teacher who led a class project on The Laramie Project – a play and film based on responses from Laramie residents after the murder of Matthew Shepherd. The teacher – Debra Taylor – led a [...]
NCAC has been following the case of Picasso at the Lapin Agile in La Grande Oregon for the past month or so. After receiving a call from a concerned parent, we wrote a letter to the Superintendent explaining how and why his decision to cancel the Steve Martin play was, well, wrong. Unfortunately, a little saber rattling from New York [...]
The Kids' Right to Read Project sent the letter below to the school board and superintendent at Crook County Schools to oppose the ongoing ban on classroom use of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. After the superintendent removed the book in violation of district policy, a committee reviewed the book and voted to reinstate it. The book was returned to the library, but it remains suspended from classroom use while the superintendent, school board, and a committee review the district’s policies on instructional materials.
Promoting drug use in a high school newspaper is undeniably inappropriate, but is there ever room for critical discussion about drugs? How about reporting on substantial medical research, which claims some psychedelic drugs might offer positive effects? Lakeridge High School senior Tyler Smith’s January op-ed, “Psychedelics: Agents of spiritual growth?” which reported on the effects of psychedelic drugs and brought [...]
NCAC joined other free speech organizations in sending a letter urging members of the Topeka, Kansas, library board to restore The Joy of Sex and three other sex education books to public library shelves.
The Wyandotte, MI, School Board has banned The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad from classrooms and the library at Roosevelt High School while the book is reviewed by a reconsideration committee. One student's parents and her "spiritual mentor" object to violence and sexual content and asked that the book be removed in the fall. The book was being taught in honors English classes. It was removed from the library and placed in the superintendent's office earlier this month.
Cleburne ISD Superintendent Dr. Ronny Beard removed The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett from the Cleburne High School curriculum in Cleburne, TX, after parents complained about sexual content in the book. The Pillars of the Earth had been part of the senior honors English curriculum at Cleburne High since 1996. Parents complained after the book was assigned this past summer, even though the teacher offered an alternative assignment for those who objected to the book.
The Kids' Right to Read Project sent this letter to the superintendent and school board, opposing the book ban:
We were disappointed to hear that the school board in Newman-Crows Landing Unified School District voted last night to ban Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya from English classes at Orestimba High School. The 4-1 vote in favor of censorship upholds the superintendent’s decision to pull the book. In January, the Kids’ Right to Read Project was joined by PEN [...]
Newman-Crows Landing Unified School District Superintendent removed Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya from district high school classes after one parent objected to the book as “anti-Catholic.” The ACLU of Northern California and PEN American Center joined in sending a letter to the school board opposing the ban.
On January 6, 2009, a new California law that strengthens First Amendment protections for high school and college newspapers went into effect. The law in California previously protected students from punishment for articles in newspapers, but didn't protect the school paper advisors. According to a statement in the LA Times from a lobbyist for the bill, "[i]n the last three [...]
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky was banned from ninth grade classrooms at Portage High School in Portage, IN, in late November 2008. The book was challenged by one parent who objected to sexual content in the novel, and the school board decided to remove the book from the curriculum. In response to an article published in the school newspaper, the Pow Wow, which reported on the review process for The Perks of Being a Wallflower, school administrators imposed a new policy requiring that all future newspaper content be subject to prior review. In December 2008, the Kids' Right to Read Project sent a letter to the school board and superintendent opposing the banning of the book and the new prior review policy for the newspaper.
Listening to: La Vie Boheme On December 12, the Dallas Morning News reported that Rowlett High School had canceled a production of the musical Rent after protest from some parents in the community. According to the article, the school’s theatre director made the decision in the interest of the students involved: “In light of everything that has happened, I need [...]
In November 2007 Katherine Evans, a senior at Pembroke Pines Charter High created a Facebook group criticizing her teacher. Three other students weighed in to comment: all supporting the teacher. Two days later Evans took down the page. Two months later, the school principal Peter Bayer told Evans that she would be suspended for three days for “bullying and cyberbullying [...]
The New Rochelle Board of Education announces that it will replace the 50 censored copies of Girl, Interrupted and that [N]o further modifications of this type, i.e., removal of pages, shall be permitted under any circumstances. It has always been the policy of the City School District of New Rochelle that students be advised in advance if a particular assigned [...]
The Book of Bunny Suicides by Andy Riley was challenged by one parent who wants the book removed from the library at Central Linn High School in Brownsville, OR. The Kids' Right to Read Project sent a letter to the school board in support of keeping the book in the library.
Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane was challenged for use in ninth grade English classes at Lincoln High School in Thief River Falls, MN. Some parents objected to sexual violence and graphic language in the book. NCAC and ABFFE wrote a letter to the school board, urging that the book be retained in the curriculum.
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya was banned from high school classes in Newman-Crows Landing (CA) Unified School District. NCAC and ABFFE sent a letter to the Modesto Bee:
Listening to: MC Luscious An 11th grade student was recently told to remove her bumper sticker from her car parked in the Walla Walla High School (WA) parking lot. The content of the sticker: “I Fucked Your Boyfriend.” There was little controversy about the student’s expression until she was told by school officials to remove the bumper sticker or face [...]
NCAC and ABFFE sent this letter to the Editors of the Austin American-Statesman in response to the removal of TTYL from middle school libraries. Re: “Round Rock chief removes contested book from middle schools” (November 19) To the Editors: We strongly oppose the decision of Round Rock ISD Superintendent Dr. Jesús Chávez to remove TTYL by Lauren Myracle from district [...]
Two parents challenged the picture book, And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, for use in elementary school libraries in Ankeny, Iowa. The parents objected to the story of two male penguins who parent a chick because they say the book is not "age-appropriate". NCAC and ABFFE wrote a letter to the Ankeny School Board opposing the challenges.
TTYL‚ by Lauren Myracle was removed from middle school libraries throughout Round Rock (TX) ISD. One student's parents challenged TTYL‚ because they objected to sexual content and profanity in the book. Two review committees evaluated the book and recommended that it be kept on library shelves. However, before the school board could review the matter, Superintendent Jesús Chávez had the book removed from middle school libraries throughout the district. The Kids' Right to Read Project sent a letter to the school board opposing the book's removal.
Some parents have objected to sexual content, profanity, and violence in The Bluest Eye and Beloved by Toni Morrison, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini in Burke County, NC, schools. The Kite Runner was reviewed (and subsequently approved for use in classrooms) in February 2008. The Kids' Right to Read Project sent a letter to the school board regarding the challenges.
We were delighted to hear that the Sherwood, Oregon School Board voted last night to keep the novel, Grendel by John Gardner, in Sherwood High School’s 10th grade accelerated English curriculum. Some parents object to sexual content and violence in the book, but their children were offered a different book to read. Their views are not shared by all – [...]
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against Fall Brook High School for violating free speech rights by getting rid of its journalism class and removing the faculty advisor to the school's newspaper after disputes over two articles. The first article was about the school board's refusal to close Fall Brook High School during the wildfires last year and [...]
Re: Sherwood School Board upholds use of novel Grendel (November 12) To the Editors: The Sherwood School Board should be applauded for its decision to keep the novel, Grendel by John Gardner, in Sherwood High School’s 10th grade accelerated English curriculum. Some parents object to sexual content and violence in the book, but their children were offered an alternative assignment. [...]
We write regarding complaints about a middle school health teacher who apparently responded to students’ questions in a sex education class about homosexuality, masturbation and oral sex. We understand some parents have called for her termination and that in response the district has put her on paid-administrative leave while conducting an investigation.
We are deeply concerned about the recent decision to suspend three students from Grover Cleveland High School because they wore homemade t-shirts which read, “My Vagina is Obscene,” to protest the censorship of the school newspaper Le Sabre. We understand that the school paper was confiscated because it featured a detailed diagram of a vagina and accompanying articles about “V-Day”, a national movement to raise awareness about violence toward women. In our view, both in censoring the school paper and suspending sophomore Richard Edmond and two of his peers for wearing these t-shirts, you have violated the students’ basic First Amendment and state free speech rights.
