Textbook companies need to “hold the line for our Democracy” and not cave to governors calling for “censorship” of school educational materials, a letter signed by ten governors, including Gov. Maura Healey, said.
The governors said they wrote the open letter — dated May 25 — out of concern that textbook publishers may be tempted to “water down critical information to appeal to the lowest common denominator.” It comes as a debate over what should or should not be included in textbooks for students and libraries plays out across the country.
“Our country’s future is at stake. You hold enormous influence in shaping how our great nation’s history is told, and the consequences of your actions will reverberate for generations to come,” the letter reads. “Honestly grappling with our legacy has long been a cornerstone of American patriotism. If we are to continue striving for a more perfect union, then we must carry out our duty of ensuring future generations understand our full history as well as the contributions of all its people.”
The governors of Washington, Rhode Island, New York, New Mexico, Maryland, Illinois, Delaware, New Jersey, and the U.S. Virgin Islands also signed onto the letter.
Governors in several states have pushed to ban or restrict books they believe contain inappropriate material. Certain books covering racial themes also have been pulled from library shelves, sometimes temporarily, as school administrators try to assess what material is allowed under the new rules.
Florida became one of the first in a wave of red states to enact laws making it easier for parents to challenge books in school libraries they deem to be pornographic, deal improperly with racial issues or in other ways be inappropriate for students.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a law, set to take effect this summer, that could impose criminal penalties on librarians who knowingly provide “harmful” materials to minors.
The law also would establish a process for the public to challenge materials and ask they be relocated to a section minors can’t access.
School libraries in Indiana will be required by July 1 to publicly post a list of books they offer and provide a complaint process for community members under a law Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb signed this month.
A Texas bill creating new standards for banning books from schools that the government considers too explicit has been sent to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk.
The Oklahoma state school board has approved new rules that prohibit “pornographic materials and sexualized content” in school libraries and allow parents to submit formal complaints. And Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill last month that includes removing all books depicting sex acts, except religious texts, from school libraries.
The open letter signed by Healey and other governors said it is an “important priority” of their administrations to ensure that any education materials “censored to appeal to political pressure” do not negatively impact goals and values in their states.
“As such, please know that we will be working closely with all of our school districts to ensure they are fully informed of which texts include comprehensive and accurate educational information – and which have been inappropriately censored – when they consider procurement of instructional materials for the nearly nine million students our states serve,” the letter said.
Materials from the Associated Press were used in this report.