DOE Delivers Potentially Crucial Finding in Fight Against Book Bans

Freedom to read advocates are applauding a final report and resolution agreement from the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights that could help blunt the surge of book bans in schools.

In a May 19 letter and resolution agreement, DOE officials concluded that the Forsyth County (Georgia) School district’s removal of books largely featuring Black and LGBTQ characters created a potentially “hostile environment” for students, in violation of their civil rights. And in a potentially landmark resolution agreement, the district agreed to work with the DOE to address student discrimination issues arising from the book bans.

“OCR [The Office for Civil Rights] has a concern the District received notice that its media center book screening process may have created a hostile environment for students, yet the District’s responsive steps related to the book screening process were not designed to, and were insufficient to, ameliorate any resultant racially and sexually hostile environment,” DOE officials wrote in delivering the findings of an investigation stemming from student complaints.
more at: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/libraries/article/92379-doe-delivers-potentially-crucial-decision-in-fight-against-book-bans.html

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