Its NOT "Book Banning"

Tips on how to challenge porn and erotica in school libraries!

District Policy 9130-PUBLIC COMPLAINTS AND GRIEVANCES

Local elections matter. Recently, the state of New Jersey Board of Education voted to eliminate gender terms from school curriculums. “Equality” is now replaced with “equity”. And your daughters no longer have a safe space to learn about the changes in their bodies, away from the biological boys and their cooties.

So what can you do now? Vote in your local school board elections and pay attention to school policy! Your school board members are responsible for writing policy that dictates the climate of the ever-changing, local community that it represents. The NJBOE left room for the local district boards to decide how they will interpret this new Chapter 7 policy, so make your voice heard!

But are you really paying attention to what is going on in your child’s school? Do you know what books your school library has in it? Or do you just blindly trust the professionals because you’re not a right-wing conspiracy theorist, you bigot?!

Check your local school library’s online catalogue here. Get familiar with the books in your child’s school. If you find something in there that makes you uncomfortable, as “a person with a legitimate interest in the school district,” District Policy 9130 - Public Complaints and Grievances will formally allow you to express your concerns. A book challenge should be addressed to the Superintendent, who will then review the complaint according to the procedure outlined below.

“In the case of complaints about instructional or supplemental resource materials, the initial complaint must set forth in writing the author, title, and publisher of the materials as well as those specific portions of the material or the work to which objection is taken; the complainant's familiarity with the work; the reasons for the objection; and the use of the work in the schools.  The Superintendent shall appoint a committee consisting of the individuals delineated in the accompanying regulation.  While the staff member who selected the material in question is encouraged to present their rationale to the review committee, that person shall not be present for deliberation or voting.  The committee will report its findings in writing to the Board within fourteen calendar (14) days from the conclusion of the committee’s deliberations. No challenged material may be removed from the curriculum or from a collection of resource materials except by action of the Board of Education, and no challenged material may be removed solely because it presents ideas that may be unpopular or offensive to some. Should the Board of Education vote to remove material, the certified Media Specialist for that school shall offer suggestions as to a replacement resource which conveys the same or similar educational purpose that may have led to the resource being included in the library in the first place. Any Board action to remove material will be accompanied by the Board's statement of its reasons for the removal.”

Your local board of education reserves the right to remove any challenged material from the library. Pay attention to who is representing you on your school board. Is it an accurate depiction of your voice?

But before you go ahead and start banning “literary masterpieces”, familiarize yourself with some of these controversial books. You must read them cover to cover before ever proposing a formal challenge, and trust me they are as bad as you think…. some are even worse. But you have to read them for yourself and form your own opinion.

Stay involved. But most importantly make sure that you trust your children’s education in these elected school board official’s hands, and if you don’t - vote them out