States and school districts have broad authority to make curricular decisions. But the Utah State Board of Education isn't just deciding what gets taught in class 鈥 it's banning your child from bringing certain books onto school property. Books that you might have chosen for them. written by beloved authors like Judy Blume and Margaret Atwood which carry serious literary and educational value.
Let that sink in: a student could face consequences just for having a personal copy of a book in their backpack.
The USBE misinterpreted a that outlines criteria for what qualifies as material that is too 鈥渟ensitive鈥 to be permitted in schools. But the law is limited to materials used for classroom instruction. Under this misguided interpretation of the law, the USBE has issued telling schools to bar students from reading or even privately possessing certain books at school, not because the books are legally obscene, but because they include frank discussions of sexuality and human relationships. That鈥檚 not protecting kids 鈥 that鈥檚 censorship.
And it鈥檚 unconstitutional.
The First Amendment guarantees students the right to read and receive information. Schools can choose what books to assign. But they cannot ban students from privately reading books during their free time 鈥 even on school grounds 鈥 simply because state or local officials deem the books unfit for classroom instruction. The USBE is trampling student rights and overstepping its authority.
This policy doesn鈥檛 just infringe students鈥 rights 鈥 it undermines parental authority, too. It says your choices for your child don鈥檛 matter.
We cannot let this stand.
Email the Utah State Board of Education today and demand an end to this unconstitutional and overreaching book ban. Let them know that in America, we don鈥檛 ban books 鈥 and we don鈥檛 punish kids for reading them.
Stand up for students. Stand up for free expression. Stand up for the right to read.
