The cancellation of a scheduled appearance by a Muslim guest speaker at a Connecticut public school is the latest disturbing example of suppressions of free speech in museums, on college campuses and now at middle schools in response to threats of violence.
A CA school board is set to vote on a widely criticized policy that would stoke parental fears and anxieties, invite self-censorship and wreak havoc with the curriculum.
Although some may understandably dislike the book’s use of racial slurs, it is essential to any realistic and pedagogically sound understanding of our nation’s history.
NCAC has urged an Oklahoma board of education to rescind its policy of disciplining students who do not stand during the national anthem as students have the right to peaceful and non-disruptive political speech, which includes the right to protest.
The groups argue the decision to immediately cease teaching the book in response to a single complaint imposes a “heckler’s veto” on the curriculum and deprives all students of their First Amendment right to read a pedagogically valuable, National Book Award-winning novel. UPDATE: Book restored to curriculum!
The groups argue that the directive, which appears to contradict existing district policies, would lead to the exclusion of an extremely large number of books, including literary classics, from Shakespeare to Anne Frank’s A Diary of a Young Girl.
In teaching the history of race in America, educators who contextualize racist language in the appropriate historical and social context can deliver a valuable lesson to students in understanding social injustice.
The book, which tells Jazz’s story of struggle with having “a girl brain but a boy body,” was brought to school in June by a transitioning kindergartner at Rocklin Academy Gateway School.
NCAC is praising the grassroots efforts of Chicagoans who have set an example for the rest of the country.
The trial will decide whether the cancellation of the Mexican-American studies curriculum in 2010 in Tucson Arizona was done with discriminatory intent.
Book challenge season has begun in Indianapolis!
By choosing to remove the book, a precedent is set for the success of future book challenges that place objectionable content over pedagogical merit.
In the face of discord and subjective morality-based arguments, the board stood up for the rights of all of its students to learn in a safe and respectful environment.
Student journalists who contribute to their high school and college outlets do not enjoy the same level of protections as their professional counterparts. New Voices bills are looking to change that.
NCAC speaks with Miranda Taylor, a student at Richmond Early College in North Carolina, whose school canceled this year's yearbook, in part, because of her senior quote: "Build That Wall."
The groups underline that the First Amendment protects a student’s right to receive and possess literature, as long as the books in question do not cause disruption to the educational process.
NCAC is in the process of writing to the elementary school underlining that students have a First Amendment right to receive and possess literature, provided the books in question do not cause disruption to school activities.
The objecting New London parents say that the book features “gratuitous and unnecessary” profanity and sexual references.
NCAC's letter will underline that a primary goal of the school system "is to exercise the responsibilities of citizenship by promoting democratic values such as free expression, tolerance, and diversity." This includes diversity of opinion.
The groups’ letter underlines that the hasty removal of the book, after a single complaint, sets a harmful precedent that could leave an entire curriculum in tatters.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and Lambda Legal are calling on a Tennessee high school to apologize for removing a displayed student artwork featuring the word “GAYDOM” and a rainbow motif. The groups demand the drawing be immediately restored, arguing that the school’s justification for the removal-- that some students were offended by the artwork-- violates the student artist’s First Amendment rights.
The notion that the mere presence of inappropriate language and allegedly suggestive images is justification for a book’s removal sets a harmful precedent that, for example, a classic work of literature that contains adult language, or an art history textbook that includes a nude, should also be kept away from teens.
The groups maintain that although the school should and must aim to create a positive learning environment free from racism and hostility, the decision to cancel the play fails to further this objective
The bill is vague, allowing challenges and changes to curricular selections made by ideological actors.
The letter argues that choosing to remove a book citing "community standards" sets a dangerous precedent for future book challenges.
The Arizona school district removed Khaled Hosseini's novel after 5 years on the English curriculum, raising questions about the motivations behind the decision.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and 6 other organizations committed to defending the right to read are urging a North Carolina school district to reinstate a children’s book in a 1st grade anti-bullying lesson plan after it was removed following pressure from local Republican lawmakers concerned about its gender-nonconforming themes.
The parents claim that the school taught solely Islamic religious practices in a World Culture and Geography curriculum, ignoring education in other world religions.
NCAC has joined the Student Press Law Center, the Cato Institute and the Electronic Frontier Foundation in urging the Supreme Court to take the case of Craig Keefe who was expelled from a nursing program for 'unprofessional' remarks.
The decision to cancel the play was understandable, given the controversy around the photo, but was it the best decision that could have been made?
The book, Jacob’s New Dress, was pulled after Republican lawmakers complained. For several month a group called Values Coalition has charged the district of using "indoctrinating" materials.
S.B. 393 is the latest in a string of similar “anti-science bills” introduced in states around the country. One such bill was rejected by South Dakota’s House Education Committee last month.
Yesterday, NCAC, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and 6 other free speech and education groups defended Ariel Schrag's acclaimed anthology Stuck in the Middle, which had been challenged in a school library in Oklahoma. NCAC joined CBLDF to ask Schrag for her thoughts on the challenge.
NCAC’s letter to the school district reprimands the school for violating its own book challenge review process, and emphasizes the value of Rowell’s novel.
Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, and Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian were flagged for "explicit, graphic" content.
A formal complaint was lodged by a local parent who was offended by the presence of profanity in the book, which includes passages that reference sexual assault.
The Yamhill-Carlton School District in Western Oregon pulled the New York Times bestseller from a school lesson plan without following the school's review process for book challenges.
The bill removes the restraints on teachers that prevent them from straying from professionally-developed science standards adopted by state educators.
A group of parents claim the New Trier High School's Seminar Day does not include a fair balance of perspective.
Terms such as "inappropriate" are vague and over-inclusive, potentially leading to the exclusion of works of undeniable pedagogical value.
