Literacy advocates are concerned about the rights of students and continue to push back against the Department of Education’s dismissal of book ban complaints, claiming that they were a hoax.
The department’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) also removed previous guidelines issued under the Biden-Harris administration to Forsyth County School District in Georgia concerning book bans that allegedly violated students’ civil rights.
“By dismissing these complaints and eliminating the position and authorities of a so-called ‘book ban coordinator,’ the department is beginning the process of restoring the fundamental rights of parents to direct their children’s education,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Craig Trainor said in a statement.
However, Suzanna Trimel, senior communications and media advisor for PEN America, an organization that promotes free speech and fights against book bans, said bans can have long-term effects on students.
“Their First Amendment rights are at risk, along with the basic freedom to read and learn,” Trimel, a former journalist, said. “When students are robbed of books, their education suffers. Access to a diversity of books, ideas, stories and perspectives is the core of education in a democracy.”
The civil rights office dismissed 11 book ban complaints and six pending allegations, citing them as a “meritless claim premised upon a dubious legal theory.”
The dismissed complaints argued that local school districts, mainly the Forsyth County School District, were violating Title IX by removing books that touched on LGBTQ+ themes or relationships and Title VI by removing books by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) authors that touched on race and critical race theory.
Forsyth County School District reportedly removed 15 books from its libraries. Some of those were “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson, “Juliet Takes a Breath” by Gabby Riveria, “L8, g8r” by Lauren Myracle, “Me Earl and the Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews, “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult, “Out of Darkness” by Ashley Hope Perez, “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison and “The Infinite Moment of Us” by Lauren Myracle.
“The department adheres to the deeply rooted American principle that local control over public education best allows parents and teachers alike to assess the educational needs of their children and communities,” Trainor said.
“Parents and school boards have broad discretion to fulfill that important responsibility,” he added. “These decisions will no longer be second-guessed by the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education.”
The guidelines issued to the Forsyth County School District under the Biden-Harris Administration are no longer available on the Department of Education’s website. However, the Association of Title IX Administrators published details of the resolution on its website.
“For more than three years, we have countered the rhetoric that book bans occurring in public schools across this country are a ‘hoax,’” Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America’s Freedom to Read program, said in a statement upon hearing the news that OCR is voiding the resolution agreement with Forsyth County School District.
“This kind of language from Washington – from the federal government – is truly alarming and dismissive of the students, educators, librarians and authors who have firsthand experiences of censorship in classrooms and school libraries.”
“Since 2021, we have meticulously recorded nearly 16,000 instances of book bans – where access to books is revoked from the students who are the intended readers,” Meehan explained. “These bans most often happen when ‘common-sense processes’ are ignored, and state legislation is imposed to restrict students’ right to read and learn.”
PEN America reported 10,046 cases of book bans across 29 states and 220 public school districts during the 2023-2024 school year.
Florida and Iowa were the leading states, with Texas being in third place. 44%of those book bans featured BIPOC characters and 39% featured LGBTQ+ characters.
“As a free expression organization, we are resolute that ideas are not to be feared, but should be engaged, considered, debated, challenged, when necessary, and sometimes passionately opposed,” Trimel said.
“Educators must be able to affirm the desire of students, their openness to curiosity, discovery and the value they hold for the freedom to read. What students can read in schools provides the foundation for their lives, whether critical thinking, empathy across difference, personal well-being, or long-term success.”
The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights did not respond to an interview request.
School districts spend $34,000 to $135,000 annually to comply with book bans, according to a Politico report.
According to a report from Politico, Florida school counties have outsourced the task of making sure their libraries are up to code with Florida Department of Education book bans; some counties have signed a contract to use a software called Beanstack, which helps them streamline the process.
“Districts are paying thousands of dollars annually to access this software, which also is set to host a website for parents and other users to search what books are available in schools — another key component of the Florida legislation,” said Politico.
“Over the summer, Hillsborough’s school board agreed to pay Beanstack’s parent company Zoobean $135,986 for its contract; Lee County in late June signed an $88,000 deal with the company; Broward County already worked with Beanstack for other reading services and added another $34,000 to expand its contract and cover the classroom library services, records show.”
When students are robbed of books, their education suffers. Access to a diversity of books, ideas, stories and perspectives is the core of education in a democracy.”
— Suzanna Trimel, PEN America
To combat these book bans, popular publishing houses such as Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, Simon & Schuster and Sourcebooks filed a lawsuit last year against the Florida state government for passing of HB 1069, a bill that required public schools to remove books that can be viewed as “sexual conduct.”
The publishing houses claimed that the Florida law violated U.S. Supreme Court precedence in Miller v. California, which established guidelines for determining whether materials (i.e., books) touched on obscenity or if it violated one’s First Amendment.
Similar lawsuits have been filed against Iowa state officials and the Escambia School District in Florida over books that were “unconstitutionally removed.”
Book bans are also a concern on the college level.
“I’m an early career Black librarian,” said Natasha Griffin, who works at the American University Faculty Library. “I have always realized the importance of representation, especially in literature. And I’ve tried to make that stride of creating representation by joining the field and advocating for BIPOC representation via programs/events, helping build our collection of popular reading filled with new authors from marginalized backgrounds.”
“This topic of book bans and the overall changes that could affect librarianship is something my institution has been actively discussing,” she said. “We’ve been trying to highlight historically banned books on displays in the library and hosting events with students.” Griffin and another librarian created a program to read and host discussions with students, “actively engaging and showing them we value their voice.”
Trimel reiterated that all students have the right to read.
“Undermining the freedom to read for students is a direct assault on their basic rights under the Constitution.”
Tcherika Petit-Frere is a reporter for HUNewsService.com.
