"The toll of the book banning movement is getting worse," Suzanne Nossel, Chief Executive Officer of PEN America said in a statement. "...opponents of free expression are pushing harder than ever to exert their power over students as a whole."
A Tulsa-area school district is in its second week of bomb threats after Walters shared a Libs of TikTok post about a school librarian on social media.
Reading apps allow educators to drop entire libraries into students' hands, inviting them to read in print, on their phones while traveling, and through their headphones when being active.
"The volume and pace of these proposals represents a startling uptick in this ideological attack on public education," reads a new report from PEN America.
Newly appointed Superintendent Mike Miles announced that he will be turning libraries at 28 of the campuses within his New Education System into "team centers" for students with disciplinary problems. At at time when reading and math scores nationwide have yet to reach pre-pandemic levels, critics call the decision "so awful."
In an open letter to American librarians, Barack Obama has criticized “profoundly misguided” rightwing efforts to ban books from libraries in public schools.
Administrators are seeking help complying with a new, controversial Florida state that requires each school district to adopt procedures for the regular approval, removal or discontinuance of books from media centers and classroom libraries.
The bill also requires schools to inform parents if their child begins identifying as a different gender—a measure that was already included in the legislature’s proposed Parents’ Bill of Rights. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed that last week, though an override is likely by the Republican supermajority.
July 1 marked the beginning of the new fiscal year in most states, along with it new laws that will affect K12 and higher education. But for many teachers and students, they may prove themselves disruptive to learning and instruction.
