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<\/a>\nGreat news! Instead of trying to preemptively ban controversial material in state schools,\u00a0Florida instead plans to proactively expose 8th graders\u00a0to new ideas.\u00a0Oh, wait<\/a>….<\/p>\n
In previous YCRT! posts I’ve followed\u00a0the\u00a0battle between conservative parents and teachers\u00a0over\u00a0textbooks and reading assignments in a Dallas, Texas suburb. Here are the latest updates from Highland Park:<\/p>\n
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- The parent who challenged the AP history textbook has withdrawn her complaint<\/a><\/li>\n
- The school district has finally approved new procedures<\/a> for\u00a0selecting and reviewing textbooks and assigned reading assignments<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
What happened in Texas, sadly, isn’t staying in Texas. The fever to whitewash American history has spread to Georgia<\/a>, where the state senate is considering a statewide ban on AP history classes. Oklahoma<\/a> too.<\/p>\n
Oddly enough, conservative parents and elected officials in Jefferson County,\u00a0Colorado, where the current round of opposition to teaching actual, as opposed to idealized, American history began last year, have dropped their\u00a0efforts to ban\u00a0AP history classes<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in Kansas, a new front in the battle over education<\/a>\u00a0has formed. A bill making its way through\u00a0the state legislature\u00a0would allow for the arrest and prosecution of school teachers and administrators accused of\u00a0exposing minors to\u00a0\u201charmful material.\u201d What kind of material are they worried about? Why, anything to do with S-E-X, of course!<\/p>\n
Are American public libraries purging old books that\u00a0reflect\u00a0the racist assumptions of their time? This journalist\u00a0says they are<\/a>. If true, it’s\u00a0something to be concerned about.<\/p>\n
A British journalist\u00a0offers a succinct summary of book banning\u00a0in modern times<\/a>,\u00a0useful catch-up reading for those new to the topic, then outrageously claims Oxford University Press is telling\u00a0prospective\u00a0British\u00a0textbook\u00a0writers not to mention “pigs, pork or sausages for fear of causing offence.” I\u00a0didn’t buy that\u00a0… until I Googled it.\u00a0Alas, it is so<\/a>.<\/p>\n
In some countries, accepting a copy of The Watchtower<\/em> from a Jehovah’s Witness could land you in prison<\/a>.<\/p>\n
- The school district has finally approved new procedures<\/a> for\u00a0selecting and reviewing textbooks and assigned reading assignments<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n