Tag Archives: Book banning

CURMUDGUCATION: 60 Minutes Asked Moms for Liberty The Right Questions

Reporter Scott Pelley gets right to the heart of several issues. The difference between giving parents the tools to control what their own children can read (something the district also provides in spades) and trying to control what other parents can let their children read. The outrage-enhancing technique of treating isolated mistakes as proof of some widespread conspiracy.
— Read on curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2024/03/60-minutes-asked-right-questions.html

Conservative LGBTQ+ group supports book removal from El Paso County schools | FOX21 News Colorado

(EL PASO COUNTY, Colo.) — Conservative groups have submitted a petition urging a criminal investigation into the El Paso and Teller County schools over the possession and promotion of what they term “obscene books.” This move has sparked a response from members of the LGBTQ+ community who advocate for the removal of these books from […]
— Read on www.fox21news.com/news/conservative-lgbtq-group-supports-book-removal-from-el-paso-county-schools/

Podcast – TeachLab – talking about Woodland Park

Check out this podcast episode from TeachLab (here’s the direct link for Apple podcast listeners), talking with former Woodland Park teachers David Graf (teacher of the class with the book that got removed from the classroom), and former Woodland Park teacher Sarah Kaka. It gives more insight into the history of that Civil Disobedience class…how it started, and how it ultimately came under fire.

The show description:

In the fourth episode of our new series, Teacher Speech and the New Divide, we’re taking a look at autonomy. How much autonomy do K-12 teachers really have, how is teacher autonomy being reduced… and what’s being lost as a consequence? We share a profile of David Graf, a veteran educator from Woodland Park, Colorado. And, our host Justin Reich is joined by law professor Derek Black and education professor Sarah Kaka. 

‘Knowledge is power’: new app helps US teens read books banned in school | US news | The Guardian

Consistently, these bans target materials written by and about people of color or LGBTQ+ individuals, and even though a 2022 poll found that 70% of parents oppose them, they are continuing at a rapid rate.

Now the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) is trying to fight back. It recently launched the Banned Book Program, granting free nationwide access to books restricted in schools or libraries.
— Read on www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/18/us-teens-banned-books-schools

Another school bans “Between the World and Me” from the classroom

Earlier this year, Woodland Park banned/removed the book “Between the World and Me” from the classroom. A school district in Chapin, South Carolina has done the same.

Wood’s lesson plan was a part of preparing for Advanced Placement tests and involved watching two videos about systemic racism, reading Coates’ memoir and doing research with a variety of sources. Then, students were meant to write essays on their understanding of the book and make an argument about whether they agreed with Coates that systemic racism is a problem in the U.S.

Crazy that even healthy discussion and debate of sensitive issues is not allowed in conservative-controlled schools.

You can watch the author’s discussion with MSNBC here (shortly after WP banned the book).

Banning books is for bullies | Writers on the Range | Pikes Peak Courier | gazette.com

Some people have become so alarmed by what children might read in school or in libraries that they want books they don’t like removed — immediately. The targeted books include
— Read on https://gazette.com/pikespeakcourier/banning-books-is-for-bullies-writers-on-the-range/article_34d7c554-9db6-11ed-8d25-cb9a566cc720.html?fbclid=IwAR1zfhKHPusA50ruYBTm4jgfwO0QxtrtVjU3EXiPdKtF-v-w0hJI0xDYces

Woodland Park School District RE-2 pulls course material after critical race theory complaint | Pikes Peak Courier | gazette.com

Woodland Park School District RE-2 is pulling material from a high school course following a complaint that it teaches critical race theory concepts.
— Read on https://gazette.com/pikespeakcourier/woodland-park-school-district-re-2-pulls-course-material-after-critical-race-theory-complaint/article_a5aadc5c-a195-11ed-bbfc-17926d9f7a45.html?fbclid=IwAR1TRN_LRoVN6nxrCd0M7luG58mCrpGbJppxJBI_SP5Ou56gvISUgqkv1Xw