Written by Tasmia Ishma The spirit of my homeland - its aspirations and its turmoil - remains etched in my identity. As a Bengali immigrant who left at the age of six, I have always felt deeply connected to my roots, witnessing the power of youth in advocating for change and the harsh realities of censorship that often stifle those [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the school board of Brevard Public Schools in Florida after they voted to remove Shō Harusono's Sasaki and Miyano Vol. 1 from school libraries contrary to the Book Review Committee's recommendation to retain it. NCAC is concerned that the board may have acted due to hostility towards the views expressed in the [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the Board of the School District of Indian River County after they removed Alan Gratz’s Ban This Book from school libraries despite a review committee's recommendation to retain the book. NCAC expressed concern that the Board may have removed this book due to disagreement with the views expressed within the material. Therefore, [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the board of Greenville County Schools in South Carolina regarding the removal of Ellen Hopkins' Perfect and Tilt and Sarah J. Maas' Empire of Storms from high school libraries. The review committee evaluated these books and concluded that they should remain in the library. The school board, however, overruled the recommendations [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the Cameron School District in Missouri after school administrators reviewed a dozen school library books and then restricted some of them. NCAC recommended changes to the district's policy to include a diverse review committee for adjudicating future book challenges. Read NCAC's full letter to the Cameron School District here:Click here for [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the school board to urge Rutherford County Schools in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to return over 18 books removed from school libraries, considered to be obscene under Tennessee law. We advise that all challenged books be reviewed using standard policy that requires adjudication by a committee of diverse stakeholders. Read NCAC's full letter [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the Roane County School District Board of Education in Kingston, Tennessee to recommend changes to their board policy. After almost 200 challenged books were temporarily removed, NCAC encouraged the district to revise their policy to allow challenge books to remain on shelves during the reconsideration process. Read NCAC's full letter to [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship urges the school administrators of PS 55, The Henry M. Boehm School in Staten Island, NY, to follow NY DOE policy and return these discarded books back to shelves and uphold the First Amendment values of free inquiry and free access to information. Read NCAC's full letter to PS 55 here: Click here for a [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the school board of St. Johns County School District in St. Augustine, Florida to express our concern that the district is not following their policy when conducting reviews of books with sexual content. Read NCAC's full letter to the St. Johns County School District here: Click here for a full-screen view: [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship has written a letter to the Rockingham County School Board to protest their decision to temporarily remove 57 books from school libraries without following district’s policy for challenges and review. NCAC urges the Board to return the books to library shelves pending a formal review from a review committee. Read NCAC's full letter to [...]
In November, the district administration of Hanover County Public Schools in Virginia improperly ordered 75 books be removed from school libraries. The National Coalition Against Censorship has written a letter to the school board to urge them to rescind the order and to evaluate any challenged books using the proper criteria. Read NCAC's full letter to the Hanover County Public [...]
According to media reports, the superintendent of Wisconsin's Menomonee Falls Schools has removed 33 books from school libraries without following the district's challenge procedures. The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the school board to urge them to conduct all book challenges in accordance with board policy, which requires that challenges be adjudicated by a committee of diverse [...]
NEW YORK – The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) is thrilled to announce the winners of its Youth Free Expression Student Film Contest. This year's competition brought together young filmmakers from all walks of life to celebrate and advocate for the unyielding power of free speech through creativity. The contest, which invited students to submit three-minute films addressing themes [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to Barbers Hill ISD expressing concerns about the district's lack of respect for student free expression after a student was disciplined for violating the district hair length regulations. NCAC urged them to change their policy to allow for more student free expression. Read NCAC's full letter to the Barbers Hill Independent School District [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the school board of Cobb County School District in Marietta, Georgia to recommend improvements to their current policies after two books were inappropriately removed from school libraries. Our letter outlines several violations of their procedures and shares several recommendations for improving the policy. Read NCAC's full letter to the Cobb County [...]
NEW YORK – The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has selected 15 exceptional high school students to participate in its 2023 Students Advocates for Speech (SAS) program, representing 11 states. These remarkable students, who come from California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, and Texas, are poised to impact their schools, districts, and communities [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the Sunapee School District Board to recommend revisions to a proposed book challenge policy. NCAC encourages the district to remove a provision that suspends access to challenged materials during the review process in order to prevent frivolous challenges. Read NCAC's full letter to the Sunapee School District here: Click here for [...]
NEW YORK - In celebration of International Day of the Girl, First Lady Jill Biden will honor Julia Garnett, a 17-year-old Student Advocates for Speech (SAS) leader from Hendersonville, Tennessee. Garnett is one of 15 young women selected by the White House Gender Policy Council who lead change and shape a brighter future in their communities across the United [...]
Updated 10/25/2023 — The St. Tammany Parish Library Board of Control has voted unanimously to reverse their book review policy which had restricted access to over 150 books in line with NCAC's recommendations. 9/21/2023 – The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the St. Tammany Parish Library in Covington, Louisiana after the library limited access to over 150 [...]
(St. Petersburg, Florida) — A group of free expression and anti-censorship groups sent a letter to schools across Florida today, alerting them to legal filings by the state’s Attorney General that the “Don’t Say Gay” law doesn’t apply to school libraries. Although many Florida schools shuttered or restricted their libraries as the school year began, three separate legal filings by Attorney [...]
NEW YORK - The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) is an alliance of national nonprofit groups dedicated to protecting freedom of expression, including the rights of K-12 students, teachers, and staff. NCAC released the following statement to oppose the Arkansas Department of Education's restrictions on Advanced Placement African American Studies. On Saturday, August 12, the Arkansas Department of Education [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to urge the Iowa Department of Education to issue guidance regarding Senate File 496, which restricts instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation, and removes school library books with sexual content. We are concerned that the vague law is creating confusion in Iowa school districts and will harm students because it encourages schools [...]
Following news reports of 11 books being challenged in school libraries in the Craven County School District in North Carolina, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has written to the school board to recommend changes in their procedures for addressing objections to books and other material. The district’s policy provides few safeguards against the danger that books might be [...]
NEW YORK— Every year, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) honors leaders in the fight for free speech defenders during its benefit, LET ME SPEAK: a Celebration & Benefit of Free Speech & Its Defenders. This year’s event, presented by Macmillan Publishers, will highlight the contributions of Juno Dawson, Coco Fusco, John Sargent, Madeline Scotti, and Nadine Strossen. Critically acclaimed [...]
NEW YORK - In a joint letter, the National Coalition Against Censorship’s (NCAC) Arts and Culture Advocacy Program (ACAP) and the ACLU of Arizona demand that officials in Mesa, Arizona, allow the opening of an art exhibit, Facing the Giant: Three Decades of Dissent, which includes a controversial work, My Florist is a Dick, by renowned artist Shepard Fairey. City officials [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship has written a letter to the school board of New Hanover County, North Carolina, urging them to reject a challenge to the book, Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism, and You, authored by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi. The board is set to review the complaint after it was already rejected twice by reconsideration committees. A parent [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship recently wrote a letter to the School Board of Hernando County School District in Brooksville, Florida, regarding their choice to remove Louis Sachar's "Marvin Redpost: Is He a Girl?" from elementary school libraries. This decision was made despite a review committee's recommendation to keep the book. The board's action appears to be based on [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has contacted the Sparta Township Board of Education in New Jersey regarding proposed updates to the Sparta Township Library Resource Materials Policy and Regulation. The NCAC has expressed concern about the policy's complete prohibition of books with "lewd or vulgar content," which NCAC fears may prevent older students from accessing educational materials. To [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has contacted the school board in Mansfield, Texas, regarding a proposed library materials policy. NCAC shared our concern that the policy provision banning the discussion of "gender fluidity" violates the principles set forth by the Supreme Court in Board of Education v. Pico. Furthermore, NCAC is also concerned with the policy's blanket ban on [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship wrote to the Roxbury Public Schools Board of Education in Succasunna, New Jersey, to commend its rejection of a motion to remove nine challenged books before they could be reviewed by a reconsideration committee. Additionally, NCAC recommended two changes to board policy that would increase public transparency in future book challenges. Read NCAC's full [...]
Update 6/6/2023 – The School Board of Newtown has unanimously voted to retain the books, and will “implement a process to support choices of individual parents and guardians to make individual choices for their children.” 6/1/2023 – The National Coalition Against Censorship has contacted the Newtown Public School District in Connecticut. NCAC highlighted concerns that arose from challenges to [...]
NCAC has obtained permission to share the following op-ed from artnet news, which was originally published on May 25, 2023. ARTNET NEWS OP-ED Why the Supreme Court’s Decision in the Andy Warhol Copyright Case Shows the Dangers of a Sympathy Vote The former director of the ACLU’s Arts Censorship Project on the implications of 'Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith.' By [...]
UPDATE 8/31/23: A lawsuit has been filed against the State of New Hampshire over the removal of the Elizabeth Gurley Flynn historical marker. The lawsuit alleges that state officials violated the state’s Administrative Procedures Act, its historic markers program, and the plaintiffs’ rights to due process by interfering with their rights to petition for the approval and erection of [...]
Updated 6/21/2023 – The Hanover County School Board has adopted some of the changes recommended by NCAC including that books will not always be removed pending adjudication if a complainant alleges that they are "pervasively vulgar." However, the policy remains problematic as the district has removed nineteen books from school libraries. 5/18/2023 –The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) recently [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to the school board of Sarasota County Schools in Florida to protest a district administrator's removal of Chuck Palahniuk's Choke from high school libraries. This violates a board policy that bars administrators from removing books until the committee has reviewed them.Read NCAC's full letter to Sarasota County Schools here:Click here for a full-screen view: [...]
NEW YORK - The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) continues to build influence in the fields of entertainment, law, and publishing by adding to its board Amy Berkower, president of Writers House LLC, Jonathan Bloom, former Counsel at the law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, and stand-up comedian Judy Gold. The addition of new leadership comes at a [...]
According to news reports, Galesburg-Augusta Community Schools, in Galesburg, Michigan, has removed Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer from school libraries during the adjudication of the book challenge. The National Coalition Against Censorship objects to the violation of district policy, which states that material, "may not be withdrawn from use pending the committee's recommendation to the Superintendent." Read NCAC's full letter [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has written a letter to the Superintendent of Middleborough Public Schools in Middleborough, Massachusetts, in response to a report that school officials in your district forbid a student from wearing a shirt that said: "there are only two genders." As the Supreme Court ruled in its landmark decision in Tinker v. Des Moines [...]
May 4, 2023: The EARN IT Act passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously. Senate leadership must now decide whether to move the bill to the Senate floor. Several Senators, including Alex Padilla (D-CA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jon Ossoff (GA), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Peter Welch (D-VT), expressed concerns about the bill during the markup. Senator Padilla entered [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) delivered a joint letter to the City of Bristol, Tennessee, encouraging officials to modify its Social Media Comments Policy to comply with its legal obligations under the First Amendment. Read our full joint letter to the City of Bristol here: Click here for a full-screen [...]
