N C A C

Kids Right to Read Project

A project of the National Coalition Against Censorship

CO-SPONSORED BY

American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression Association of American Publishers Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

Members, School Board Watauga County Schools 175 Pioneer Trail Boone, NC 28607

February 24, 2014

Dear Board Members, This is to follow up on a letter dated November 27, 2013, to the Watauga County Schools District Reconsideration Committee regarding a challenge to Isabel Allendes The House of the Spirits in 10th grade Honors English in Watauga High School. We understand that the school board will discuss this issue at an upcoming meeting. In the months since a formal challenge to The House of the Spirits was first lodged, many members of the community have expressed their opinions. While we appreciate the value of a lively debate about this book and the freedom to read, it is the responsibility of public school officials to select materials based on their educational value, not public opinion. The House of the Spirits has been reviewed and assessed by a school committee of educators and administrators, as well as by a District Materials Reconsideration Committee. Both of these committees agreed with Watauga High School English teachers, finding that the book has pedagogical value for 10th grade honors English students. To date, no legitimate pedagogical rationale has been advanced to justify removal of the book, nor could one be. The complaint objects to the sexual content in House of the Spirits; if objections to sexual content were enough to keep a book from being taught, a great many books would be at risk, including works by Shakespeare, Morrison, Vonnegut, Faulkner, Steinbeck, and Hawthorne. A curriculum stripped of such classic and contemporary literature would irreparably damage the quality of education and put students at a distinct disadvantage in pursuing a college education. Curricular choices are uniquely within the discretion of local school authorities so long as they are based on legitimate educational grounds, Brown v. Hot, Sexy and Safer Productions, Inc. 68 F.3d 525, 534 (1st Cir. 1995), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 1159 (1996). Thus, courts have held that a parent has no right to tell a public school what his or her child will and will not be taught, Leebaert v. Harrington, 332 F.3d 134, 141 (2d Cir. 2003), or to direct how a public school teaches their child. Blau v. Fort Thomas Public School District, et al, 401 F.3d 381, 395 (6th Cir. 2005). [T]he mere fact that a child is exposed on occasion in public school to a concept offensive to a parents religious belief does not inhibit the parent from instructing the child differently. A parent whose child is exposed to sensitive topics or information [at school] remains free to discuss these matters and to place them in the familys moral or religious context, or to supplement the information with more appropriate materials. Parker v. Hurley, 514 F. 3d 87, 105 (1st Cir. 2008) (citation omitted). The practical effect of acceding to a request to censor materials will be to invite other book challenges and to leave school officials vulnerable to multiple, possibly conflicting demands. To avoid such difficulties, and to provide students with the breadth of information and skills necessary to succeed in a diverse society, educators are well-advised to defend the rights of students to access the broadest range of knowledge. Board support for the judgment of the districts professional educators and its committees is also essential to protect the integrity of the educational program, as failure to do so would send

19 Fulton Street, Suite 407, New York, NY 10038

212-807-6222

www.ncac.org/Kids-Right-to-Read

TWITTER

@KidsRight2Read

FACEBOOK

/ncacorg

the message that teachers select challenging material for students at their own risk. School officials have much wider discretion to include material that has pedagogical value than to exclude it, and their decisions to do so have rarely, if ever, been rejected in the courts. See Monteiro v. Tempe Union High School District (9th Cir. 1998) (recognizing the First Amendment right of students to read books selected for their legitimate educational value), Parker v. Hurley (1st Cir. 2008) (rejecting effort to remove books that offend parents and students religious beliefs), Pratt v. Independent School Dist. No. 831 (8th Cir. 1982) (First Amendment violated when films removed because of hostility to content and message), and Case v. Unified School Dist. No. 233 (D. Kan. 1995) (First Amendment violated by removing a book from school library based on hostility to its ideas.) The district allows parents to request an alternative assignment for their children, but they have no right to impose their views on others or to demand that otherwise educationally worthy materials be removed, merely because they consider them objectionable, offensive, or inappropriate. To go further and remove the book restricts the rights of other students and parents who may want their children to be able to read books such as House of the Spirits with the benefit of a teachers guidance. We urge you to uphold the highest educational standards for your students, and to respect both the decisions of your professional staff and the intellectual freedom of your college-bound students and retain use of The House of the Spirits in Watauga High School. Sincerely,

Joan Bertin Executive Director National Coalition Against Censorship

Chris Finan President American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression

Charles Brownstein Executive Director Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

Judy Platt Director, Free Expression Advocacy Association of American Publishers

Cc: Dr. David Fonseca, Interim Superintendent Paul Miller, Board Attorney Marshall Gasperson, Principal, Watauga High School