In the beginning.

The article that piqued Crutcher's interest....

PARENTS TAKING BOOK COMPLAINTS TO STATE BOARD

December 1, 2004
Georgetown Times
by staff writer Scott Harper

A group of parents from the Pleasant Hill area will appear before the South Carolina Board of Education next week to protest three books available to students at Carvers Bay High School they say contain profanity.

Derick Marsh, who has acted as the spokesman for the group, said the parents will address the state board when it meets at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 8.

The books which have raised concerns among the parents are: Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher, A Separate Peace by John Knowles and Lay That Trumpet in our Hands by Susan McCarthy.

At a recent meeting of the Georgetown County School Board, Marsh presented two handwritten pages of words found in the books that caused concern among the parents.

District Superintendent Dr. Randy Dozier said at that meeting he believes the books were placed in the school as part of a state-supplied supplementary book list. He advised the parents to take the matter to the state board.

Although Marsh does not have a child in high school, he said he feels it’s important to get such books out of the school before his elementary school daughter reaches that age.

Parent Tammy Stone said her 15-year-old son, who attends Carvers Bay High, approached her about what he considered objectionable material in Whale Talk after it was made part of a reading assignment.

Marsh said after the parents complained, that book was removed from the classroom but is still available in the school library.

Marsh said parents became more concerned when they were told students were reading the books aloud in class as part of their assignment.

“We’re Christians, and it’s time that Christians take a stand,” Marsh said Tuesday when asked about continuing the fight. “We would like all parents who are concerned about this to get involved. We need to know what our children are being taught.”
Marsh was the only one who spoke in front of the local school board at the Nov. 16 meeting, but he said several others will address the state board.

Carvers Bay High Principal Daryl Brown said Tuesday he is referring all comments about the books to Dr. Celeste Pringle, the district’s assistant superintendent for learning and school improvement, who was out of town Tuesday.

Marsh said if the state does not remove the books, he has not ruled out the possibility of filing a lawsuit against the district.

Two of the books, Whale Talk and A Simple Peace, have been at the center of controversy many times.

According to an article in The Detroit News, Whale Talk, which centers on a mixed-race high school protagonist and deals with racism, bullying and the students of a fictional high school, was pulled from a high school English class in that city last year but was returned after a school board committee voted to allow the book.

The book is challenged so often Crutcher has a section of his website giving “ten steps will give you a place to start when it comes to battling the ban of books kids love to read, even if their parents don’t want them reading.”

Crutcher, on the website, explains the profanity in the book “is important to the text and to the honesty of the characters and the lessons learned at the book’s conclusion.”

A Separate Peace is listed as number 27 on an ACLU website of the 50 most banned books of the 1990s.

Follow-up Press in Georgetown

AUTHOR SAYS GROUP TRYING TO BAN BOOK 'INVITING CENSORSHIP'

December 21, 2004
Georgetown Times
by staff writer Scott Harper

The author of a book some parents want removed from the library of Carvers Bay High School says his work has been taken out of context.

The book Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher has been at the center of controversy since the small group of parents addressed the Georgetown County School Board last month.

When their demand to have the book removed from the school library was not met, they took their concern to the state School Board.

Pleasant Hill resident Derick Marsh, the father of an 8-year-old daughter, said he is fighting to have the book removed before she gets to the high school level. Marsh, who has been at the forefront of the fight, presented the state school board with a petition containing about 120 signatures of people he said also want to have Whale Talk and two other books — A Separate Peace by John Knowles and Lay That Trumpet in our Hands by Susan McCarthy — removed.

Marsh told the local and state boards the books “are full of profanity” and both boards were given hand-written lists of the words and page numbers where the words are found.

After the first complaints were made, Whale Talk was removed as a required reading assignment but it is still available for students in the Carvers Bay High School library.
Whale Talk tells the story of a high school swim team that does not have a pool. It really doesn’t matter because only one of the team members can swim.

Crutcher’s website describes the team as a group of misfits brought together by T. J. Jones to find their places in a school that has no place for them.

Crutcher, who has had the book challenged in other school districts, spoke with the Times Thursday about the uproar concerning the novel released in 2001.

He said he has more respect for people who challenge his books if they have taken the time to read them. Often, he said, words and sentences are taken out of context by people trying to get the books banned.

He said he doesn’t understand why some people “sit and count bad words in a book.”
He said in the case of Whale Talk, the language was used “to promote the expression and reality of the lives of the characters.”

For example, Crutcher noted one of the characters is a bi-racial teen-ager who is in a session with a therapist. While she is in that session she begins to scream out many of the names she has been called during her lifetime.

“That is the language kids would speak in such a situation. I am not trying to promote bad language but that is the language of hard times,” Crutcher said.

Crutcher is also a child therapist by trade. He said what is in the book is mild when compared with some of the things he has heard during sessions with real kids and teenagers.

“What is in the book is true stuff,” he said.

Crutcher also pointed out only three people from Georgetown County spoke to the state School Board.

“You have three people making noise hoping to change the policy in the whole district. It makes it look like they are inviting censorship,” he said.

Marsh, last month, told the local board “it’s time Christians took a stand” against such material in schools.

“I think Christians are standing up. They have been on my neck for years,” Crutcher said. “There is a faction of the Christian right that is on a crusade to clean out libraries and remove anything they find objectionable.”

One of Crutcher’s other books, In the Time I Get, has come under fire in Solon, Iowa, by a group of parents concerned about the gay theme. He said he does not recommend his books for elementary school students. He said they are mainly in the high school and college levels.

After the Times original report on the controversy was published, Crutcher placed the article on his official website. Since then the Times has received numerous e-mails in support of Crutcher and the book.

Richie Partington, a member of the American Library Association’s 15-member Best Books for Young Adults committee, said he reviewed Whale Talk at the time it was published. He classifies the book as an important piece of young adult literature.
“It belongs in high school libraries. It is the sort of book that can — and undoubtedly has — been responsible for positive changes in an adolescent’s life for having read it,” Partington wrote.

Beth Gallaway, a library consultant, said the book is important because it “tells a story from a voice rarely heard — that of a biracial Asian-African-American teen.”
“If Mr. Marsh has read the novel in its entirety ... he would know that Whale Talk’s themes of trying to do the right thing, accepting others without judging them, sacrifice for a greater good, and seeking forgiveness for mistakes are all Christian ideals,” she wrote. “One can neither judge a book by its cover, nor by only two pages.”

Letters of Support

Tenenbaum's Memo

January 5, 2005
Memo from South Carolina State
SUPERINTENDENT INEZ TENEBAUM

“The book Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher was on a suggested list for the developing thematic unit, With Justice for All.  After reviewing Whale Talk, I have determined that it contains offensive language that is not appropriate for use in our high school English curriculum.  The concerned individuals who appeared before the State Board in the December meeting regarding this book have been notified of my decision.”

Crutcher's First Letter to Tenenbaum

Dear Ms. Tenenbaum,

I was recently made aware of a challenge to my book Whale Talk in the Georgetown, South Carolina schools.  Two other books were also challenged: A Separate Peace and Lay That Trumpet in Our Hands.  I’ve read them both and consider both to have exceptional literary merit and educational value. 

As I understand it, when the challengers were unsuccessful in getting the books removed at the local level, they moved to the state level, where you were brought into the decision-making process.  Yesterday I received a copy of a statement that purportedly came from your office.  It read, in part, “The book Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher was on a suggested list for the developing thematic unit, With Justice for All.  After reviewing Whale Talk, I have determined that it contains offensive language that is not appropriate for use in our high school English curriculum.  The concerned individuals who appeared before the State Board in the December meeting regarding this book have been notified of my decision.”  Can I assume that “reviewing” Whale Talk is the same as “reading” Whale Talk? 

If in fact you did issue this statement, there are a few things I’d like you to consider.  The “offensive” language in the story is the native language of the characters, most of whom have been through exceptionally hard times.  Their language is reflective of those times.  The most often cited “offensive” scene comes on pages 68 and 69 of the hardback edition.  A four-year-old female character uses the “n” word, the “f” word and the “b” word in rapid succession.  Because this multicultural child is screaming out the language used against her on a daily basis by a racist stepfather, the words are printed in large font.  Most often the censors read the words, ignore the context (because they haven’t read the book to put it in a context) and make the challenge.  While the words, seen alone, may be shocking, the scene depicts a horribly mistreated little girl trying to work through her trauma and make sense of her life.  

That scene is a fictionalization of a real scene.  That character is a fictionalization of a real person.  Besides being changed for confidentiality purposes, the situation has also been “watered down” because the complexity and intensity of the “real life” circumstance was more extreme than I thought the story needed and because some of it wouldn’t have fit the context of the story.  The point is, it is a real reflection of real life.

Ms. Tenenbaum, I taught, then was director, of a k-12 alternative school in inner city Oakland, California, for most of the seventies.  Eighty percent of my students in that school were “left behind.”  (If you don’t believe that, you should read what their “educators” wrote about them upon their exit from the mainstream schools.)  I spent the fifteen years following that working as a therapist with families involved in child abuse and neglect and have worked part time pro-bono to present time.  I have been chairperson for the original Spokane (WA) Child Protection Team for twenty-two years.  I don’t pull these stories out of thin air.  Each is inspired by scores of cases I have seen as a therapist, Child Protection Team Chair, and Death Review Board member.

When you censor stories about these kids, you censor the kids themselves.  You “leave them behind.”  They become nobody.  I’m still waiting for a politician with the courage to do what it takes to really leave no child behind.  In our current educational culture, not just in Washington State and South Carolina, but across the nation, no child is being left behind because nobody’s going anywhere. 

For the past twenty years I have sat in my office and listened to adolescents tell me why they don’t trust us.  They don’t trust us because we don’t listen.  They don’t trust us because we minimize and diminish their circumstances.  They don’t trust us because we are afraid to look at their world through their eyes.  They don’t trust us because we don’t respect that world, yet demand that they respect ours.  Good stories can help bridge that gap.  While most kids won’t sit down and tell a teacher or a school counselor (or a therapist, for that matter) exactly what is going on in their lives, they feel far more comfortable talking to us about characters in stories that capture their imaginations; characters that may be like them, or whose circumstances remind them of their own.  As educators we don’t have to embrace the language of TJ Jones and his cohorts, or of four-year-old Heidi.  We can tell students we are offended by the language, or that we don’t like it used around us, while at the same time exploring the lives of the characters.  That’s one beauty of fiction.  We can talk about the parts that make us uncomfortable without judgment. 

One in three high school girls has been a victim of sexual abuse; one in six boys.  Those are undisputed statistics.  My experience tells me those statistics are conservative.  You don’t have to read too much research to know the mind set many of those kids adopt.  That doesn’t count kids who witness violence between their caregivers, are emotionally abused, beaten, threatened, or simply never allowed to be good enough.  A teacher looking out over his/her high school classroom is faced with far more kids who can relate to the characters in Whale Talk than most educators would care to admit.  The kids who haven’t experienced significant trauma would do well to know about those of their peers who have.  We are trying to create a culture of understanding and acceptance are we not?  How can we do that when we want to hide that which is to be understood and accepted?

I’m going to be in South Carolina at least twice this year, once at the end of January and once in June.  I would be more than willing to discuss this issue with you by phone, in person, by mail or email.  I’m instructing my assistant to alert the electronic and print media of my presence and intend to be vocal on this issue. 

The spokesperson for the group who wanted the three books out of the Georgetown curriculum was quoted as saying, “We are Christians, and it’s time Christians stood up.”  Well, that particular arm of the Christian church has been standing on my neck for the past four years, along with the necks of John Knowles and Lois Lowry and Sharon Creech and Alice Walker and Maya Angelou and J.D. Salinger and Judy Blume and Robert Cormier and Kurt Vonnegut and Stephen King and Tim O’Brien to name a relative few.  I happen to know a significant number of Christians who believe in the separation of church and state (for their own protection), and in being nonjudgmental and embracing of fellow humans who fall on hard times, and in facing tough truths in order to alleviate pain. 

In truth, I don’t care whether you censor my book or not.  It’s happened before and it will happen again.  This issue is far bigger than one book or one author.  But it is an issue about the true meaning of freedom: that of the mind.  The good news is that Conservative Christians, or any rigid faction for that matter, can’t stop kids from thinking “bad” language by telling them not to, and they can’t teach kids how to respond to tough issues by trying to keep them ignorant.  What they can do is take themselves off the short list of people to turn to when an adolescent crisis happens, because when kids see us as judgmental and/or afraid, they turn away.  It’s hard to believe that’s what these censors really want, and it’s harder to believe that’s what you want.

Sincerely,

Chris Crutcher

Author of Whale Talk

More Georgetown press

WHALE TALK BOOK REMOVED FROM READING LIST

January 14, 2005
Georgetown Times
by staff writer Scott Harper

If the Georgetown County School Board follows a committee recommendation, teachers will be required to inform parents when books that are deemed controversial will be used in the classroom.

However, one book that will not be in any classroom in the state is Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher.

Whale Talk was one of three books contested by a group of parents from the Pleasant Hill area. They took their concerns to the State Board of Education in December.
The other two books being protested because of what is considered by the group as inappropriate language are A Separate Peace by John Knowles and Lay That Trumpet in our Hands by Susan McCarthy.

All three books were being used at Carvers Bay High School as part of a pilot curriculum program being tested at a few schools across the state. Only six other schools in the state are taking part in that program.

Concerns were raised after Tammy Stone of Pleasant Hill said her son, a Carvers Bay High student, told her about the book Whale Talk that he was assigned to read in an English class.

She said after reading the book, she was offended by the language used by the characters. She called her friend Derick Marsh and a crusade began to have the three books removed from the school.

Lists of the offensive words from the three books were compiled and a petition was circulated.

Last week, State Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum ordered Whale Talk be removed from the state curriculum.

State Department of Education Spokesman Jim Foster said Tenenbaum read the book and decided it contained language that is not appropriate for use in our high school English curriculum. Foster said Tenenbaum’s decision means the book will not be on any required reading list. However, it does not prohibit the book to be barred from high school libraries.

Foster said the teachers who are participating in the program were given a “long list” of books, including Whale Talk, they could choose for their students to read.
Chris Crutcher, the book’s author, expressed his disappointment in a letter to Tenenbaum.

“The ‘offensive’ language in the story is the native language of the characters, most of whom have been through exceptionally hard times. Their language is reflective of those times,” Crutcher states. “Most often the censors read the words, ignore the context (because they haven’t read the book to put it in a context) and make the challenge.”
Foster said the other two books protested by the parents have not been removed from the reading option list.

The Local Decision

Tenenbaum’s decision was made the same day a local, 15-person committee — made up of teachers, parents, ministers and other school administrators — met to discuss the books.

When a complaint about curriculum is made, district policy requires a committee convened to discuss the concerns.

Superintendent Dr. Randy Dozier told the committee this is the first book appeal in the district since at least 1998.

“This is not a censorship committee, it’s a book review committee,” he said.
Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Celeste Pringle, who moderated the meeting, said the books in question were used at Carvers Bay High because the school is taking part in an English course pilot program put together by the state.

The books that were discussed the most by the committee were Whale Talk and Lay that Trumpet in our Hands.

Program Coordinator Pat Geiger, who read Lay that Trumpet, described it as a “wonderful book” which is set in the year 1951 in Florida.

It is about a young African-American who is murdered by the Klu Klux Klan.
“There is profanity but not very much. The profanity is some I believe anyone who found themselves in the situation of the characters would utter,” Geiger said.
Teacher Kathy Ferdon said she has talked to several teachers who have used that book and was told students love it.

“The few uses of profanity are not an issue,” she said.

Other committee members noted the profanity in the books is mainly used by the characters that are considered bad or uneducated.

Teacher Jana Hletko said it gives teachers an opportunity to talk with students about why the language is inappropriate.

“Literature gives teachers a chance to look at the language in a different way,” she said, adding the language used in the books, in her opinion, is not gratuitous.
Carvers Bay High Principal Daryl Brown said someone has to search the books to find the profane language and the questionable language can be used to show students how they should not talk. “The literature conveys ideas using language the characters would use,” Geiger added.

Local Pastor James Herring said he feels people are being blinded by culture.
“If we don’t take a stand it will get more dangerous. We can’t pray in school but we can take the name of God in vain in a book,” he said. “There are so many other books that can be used.”

Rev. Phil Thrailkill said he feels such book challenges may become more frequent in the upcoming years.

“I believe more parents are having zero tolerance in their homes because they see the cultural slime around them. I don’t want to see people who voice objections to be ridiculed or written off,” he said.

Teacher Larry Holliday said it’s his feeling the books should not be removed from the school.

“Teachers should tell parents when such books will be used and have alternative reading materials available,” he said.

After discussing the matter for about an hour, the committee voted 14-1 to follow a recommendation made by the Rev. William McNeil.

That recommendation, which will be considered by Dozier, is to allow a choice. Students would not be forced to read any books they or their parents find objectionable.

Dozier will consider the committee’s decision as he drafts a recommendation that he will present to the school board.

Brown said if a new policy is created, it will not be much different than the rules he already practices, He said when he was approached by the parents about the books he told them their children could use different books if they chose to do so.

A Press Release

Tenenbaum's Response

January 26, 2005

Dear Mr. Crutcher:

Thank you for contacting me, and I look forward to meeting with you this Friday afternoon. In the meantime, it is unfortunate for both of us that recent information concerning Whale Talk has been miscommunicated.  Let me share with you a summary of the current situation.

The South Carolina Department of Education's Office of Curriculum and Standards is developing and piloting an English II curriculum guide to assist teachers in the implementation of the state's English language arts curriculum standards.  Participation in the pilot, and ultimately the use of the completed guide by local school districts, is optional. The format includes thematic modules that center on a classic piece of literature and young adult literature.  Nine high schools are participating in the development.

Your novel initially was recommended by Education Department staff as a possible choice for students in one of the pilot curriculum's literature modules.  After reading your book and conferring with colleagues, I decided to withdraw Whale Talk from the list of books recommended by this agency for use in that module.  In my view, it is our agency's responsibility to recommend books that would be generally viewed as
acceptable reading material in all South Carolina schools.  While I believe that Whale Talk is an emotionally powerful novel, I also believe that many South Carolina parents would find its frequent use of profanity to be objectionable in a high school classroom.

My decision does not mean, however, that Whale Talk has been banned from South Carolina public school libraries.  I do not have that authority, and even if I did, I would not presume to make such a unilateral decision for all of the diverse communities in South Carolina's 85 school districts.

Neither does my decision mean that South Carolina teachers cannot use the book if they choose, so long as their decision is supported by local policy.  All schools-even those participating in the Education Department's English II pilot project-remain free to assign any book they choose.  That decision rests at the school community level, as it always did.

Whale Talk does not have this agency's blanket endorsement because I believe that parents in many South Carolina communities would find its language objectionable.  But this agency's decision not to recommend a particular book does not mean that we seek to prevent or dissuade anyone from reading it.  Rather, this decision allows South Carolina's very capable teachers-and the communities they serve-to determine for themselves which books are appropriate for their students.

Your continuing interest in this matter is certainly understandable, and hopefully this letter will help to clarify recent events.  I dispute neither your talent nor your passion, Mr. Crutcher, and I certainly recognize your commitment and service to young  people.  I also look forward to meeting you on Friday.

Very truly yours,

Inez M. Tenenbaum
State Superintendent of Education

Crutcher's reply

January 26, 2005

Dear Supt. Tenenbaum,

Tenenbaum's PR man

NOTE:  No one on Crutcher's staff EVER used the word "ban" to describe Tenenbaum's intentions regarding WHALE TALK. Only Derick Marsh's aim was described as an attempt to ban books, because he stated in the Georgetown Times that he wanted to see the book removed from SC library shelves. And at no time did we represent press releases as "articles" rather than information issued from an identified origin.

Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 16:34:28 -0500
From: "Jim Foster" This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
Subject: Response to your e-mail to South Carolina's State Superintendent of Education

Thank you for your e-mail regarding Chris Crutcher's "Whale Talk."  Unfortunately, the "news article" attached to your e-mail is not an actual news article.  My guess is that it was written by a publicist who works for Mr. Crutcher, but that's beside the point.

This article and other off-shoots have alleged that South Carolina's State  Superintendent of Education, Inez Tenenbaum, has somehow "censored" or "banned" Mr. Crutcher's novel in our state.  That is not true.  The book has been neither banned from school libraries nor from school classrooms.  Teachers and librarians in South
Carolina's 85 local  school districts remain free to assign "Whale Talk" or any other book they choose, so long as it is in compliance with local book selection policies.
 
Here are some paragraphs excerpted from a letter that Superintendent Tenenbaum e-mailed yesterday to Mr. Crutcher: 

"The South Carolina Department of Education's Office of Curriculum and Standards is developing and piloting an English II curriculum guide to assist teachers in the  implementation of the state's English Language Arts curriculum standards.  Participation in the pilot, and ultimately  the use of the completed guide by local school districts, is optional. The format includes thematic modules that center on a classic piece of literature and young adult literature.  Nine high schools are participating in the development.

 "Your novel initially was recommended by Education Department staff as a possible choice for students in one of the pilot curriculum's literature modules.  After reading your book and conferring with colleagues, I decided to withdraw Whale Talk from
the list of books recommended by this agency for use in that module. In my view, it is
our agency's responsibility to recommend books that would be generally viewed as acceptable reading material in all South Carolina schools.

"While I believe that Whale Talk is an emotionally powerful novel, I also believe that many South Carolina parents would find its frequent use of profanity to be  objectionable in a high school classroom.

"My decision does not mean, however, that Whale Talk has been banned from South Carolina public school libraries.  I do not have that authority to do that, and even if I did, I would not presume to make such a unilateral decision for all of the diverse
communities in South Carolina's 85 school districts. 

"Neither does my decision mean that South Carolina teachers cannot use the book if they choose, so long as their decision is supported by local policy.  All schools - even those participating in the Education Department's English II pilot project - remain free
to assign any book they choose.  That decision rests at the school community level, as it always did.
  
"Whale Talk does not have this agency's blanket endorsement because I believe that parents in many South Carolina communities would find its language objectionable.  But this agency's decision not to recommend a particular book does not mean that we seek to prevent or dissuade anyone from reading it.  Rather, this decision allows South Carolina's very capable teachers - and the communities they serve - to determine for themselves which books are appropriate for their students.
 
"Your continuing interest in this matter is certainly understandable, and hopefully this letter will help to clarify recent events.  I dispute neither your talent nor your passion, Mr. Crutcher, and I certainly recognize your commitment and service to young  people."
 
I hope this information will be helpful.  If you should  have any additional questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. 

Thanks again.

Yours very truly,
Jim Foster
Director of Public Information
South Carolina Department of Education

From the NCAC's Joan Bertin

January 27, 2005

To the Press in SC

Friends,

I thought you might be interested to see the letter we recently sent to Georgetown Schools Superintendent Randy Dozier regarding the removal of  3 books from the statewide reading curriculum. Superintendent Dozier has the authority to retain these books in his school district, and that is what we urge him to do, for constitutional, pedagogical, and practical reasons.

Superintendent Tenenbaum, perhaps inadvertently, created more  problems than she solved by giving in to requests to remove books from the curriculum. As our letter to Dr. Dozier notes, courts have uniformly upheld the authority of educators to determine the contents of curricula based on pedagogical considerations. Allowing individual parents' preferences to control curricular decisions, as they recognize, only
invites chaos.

It is ironic that, as this debate is happening, Chris Crutcher, one of  the authors whose book has been removed from the state list, is speaking at the annual meeting of the South Carolina Council of Teachers of English.  I presume their invitation reflects a measure of respect for his work.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
Joan Bertin

Joan E. Bertin, Executive Director
National Coalition Against Censorship
275 7th Avenue, 9th floor, New York, NY 10001
Tel: 212-807-6222; Fax: 212-807-6245
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) is an alliance of 50
national non-profit organizations, including religious, educational,
professional, artistic, labor, and civil rights groups, committed to
defending freedom of thought, inquiry, and expression.  For more
information about NCAC, visit us on-line at www.ncac.org.

January 26, 2005

Dr. Randy Dozier
Superintendent of Schools
Georgetown School District
2018 Church Street
Georgetown, SC 29440

Dear Superintendent Dozier:

I write to express concern about efforts to exclude certain books from the high school English curriculum in Georgetown County. In particular, I understand that Whale Talk, by Chris Crutcher, A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, and Lay That Trumpet in Our Hands, by Susan Carol McCarthy, have been challenged because of objections to language.

The task of selecting readings for the curriculum properly belongs to professional educators. Parents may be equipped to make choices for their own children but, no matter how well-intentioned, they simply are not equipped to make decisions that address the needs of the entire student body. Without questioning the sincerity of those seeking removal of the books, their views are not shared by all and they have no right to impose those views on others or demand that the educational program reflect their personal preferences.

As many courts have observed, public schools have the obligation to "administer school curricula responsive to the overall educational needs of the community and its children." Leebaert v. Harrington, 332 F.3d 134, 141 (2d Cir. 2003). Thus, no parent has the right "to tell a public school what his or her child will and will not be taught." Id. Any other rule would put schools in the untenable position of having "to cater a curriculum for each student whose parents had genuine moral disagreements with the school's choice of subject matter." Brown v. Hot, Sexy and Safer Productions, Inc., 68 F.3d 525, 534 (1st Cir. 1995), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 1159 (1996). See also Swanson v. Guthrie Indep. School Dist., 135 F.3d 694, 699 (10th Cir. 1998); Littlefield v. Forney Indep. School, 268 F.3d 275, 291 (5th Cir. 2001).

The practical effect of acceding to any parent’s request to censor materials will be to invite others to demand changes in the curriculum to reflect their beliefs and to leave school officials vulnerable to multiple, possibly conflicting, demands. "Objectionable language" is a broad and subjective category, open to a wide range of interpretations, encompassing virtually anything. Even narrowing the definition to language normally deemed "vulgar" or "profane" would disqualify works of William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Russell Banks, Piri Thomas, and Richard Wright, to name but a few.

As these examples suggest, the attempt "to eliminate everything that is objectionable...will leave public schools in shreds. Nothing but educational confusion and a discrediting of the public school system can result...." McCollum v. Board of Educ., 333 U.S. 203, 235 (1948) (Jackson, J. concurring). It likewise follows that any plan to identify "objectionable" books in the curriculum is legally unnecessary and misguided on practical and educational grounds.

For all these reasons, I strongly urge you to defend the professional judgment of the faculty and staff who select curricular materials, as well as the rights of students to access the broad range of materials and ideas experienced by their peers around the country. By offering parents and students the opportunity to request an alternative assignment, you more than adequately address the concerns of those who seek to limit their exposure to words and ideas; to go further would infringe the rights of the many others who are eager for a more inclusive and expansive education.

For your information, I am enclosing copies of a booklet on school censorship that we produced in collaboration with the National Education Association. I hope it will be useful to you and members of the school board, and perhaps to teachers and parents involved in this discussion. If you would like additional copies, or if we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Joan E. Bertin
cc: Inez M. Tenenbaum
Jesse Tullos

Second press release...

Columbia & Myrtle Beach press coverage

Embattled high school literature spurs talks
Myrtle Beach Sun News - Myrtle Beach,SC,USA
... Author Chris Crutcher met privately Friday with state Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum to discuss her decision to withdraw the state Department of ...

Author meets with Tenenbaum over controversial book
The State - Columbia,SC,USA
... endorsing.". Author Chris Crutcher's book is about a 17-year-old boy coming of age and confronting his multicultural heritage. Crutcher ...

Tenenbaum, author meet to discuss book ruling
The State, SC - Jan 29, 2005
... Author Chris Crutcher met privately Friday with state Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum to discuss her decision to withdraw the state Department of ...

Free Times, January 26