Wed Jun 7, 2023 – 2:31 pm EDT
SACRAMENTO, California (LifeSiteNews) — School officials who decide that some books are not appropriate for all ages could face state investigation, California authorities warned during a recent letter.
Governor Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Rob Bonta, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond sent a letter on June 1 to public school leaders across the state, warning them of consequences for making local decision on books.
The trio cited research by PEN America on “banned books,” to claim that “1,447 books were banned nationally,” during this most recent school year. A Heritage Foundation analysis of PEN America’s claims as they related to data from 2021-22 found the group made inaccurate claims about the extent of book “bans.” They called the claim of widespread book bans “simply false” because it “examined online card catalogues and found that 74% of the books PEN America identified as banned from school libraries are actually listed as available in the catalogues of those school districts.” It is not clear if the same errors were in the most recent report.
READ: Florida school board votes to remove explicit LGBT book from middle school libraries
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