So, I will ask for patience with my horrible grammar and play devils advocate. At what point should there be bans on what is in a public school library? Should 2nd graders have access to pornography? Should works deemed too controversial be in a roped off section like a 80’s movie rental store? Parents have a right to what there child is exposed to and not exposed to. If I don’t want my child exposed to To Kill a Mockingbird because I disagree with it for some reason, do not have the right to ask the school not to expose my child to it? What about when teachers decide they know better than I do and decide to expose my child to something? Parent rights and students rights are a fine line my friend, and the right pushed that line but the left equally pushes that line even more. It just doesn’t get covered the same. As for school vouchers, we can agree to disagree. If the school my child is assigned to sucks, I shouldn’t have to pay for my child to go to private school or rely on a scholarship. If the state is the responsible steward of tax dollars then it is on them to provide the proper setting, if they can’t they absolutely should be on the hook for it. Look at the school in Boston they are trying have the National Guard called into it order to maintain order in it.
Shawn, I definitely appreciate your engagement with the post, and I'll tackle the most salient points here. It's fine if you don't want your child exposed to To Kill a Mockingbird, but that's between you and your child. You don't have the *right* to remove it from a library that is publicly funded, although you do have the right to talk about why you dislike the book in any public forum you wish. Also, teachers at all levels are typically supposed to inform parents (either in a syllabus or some other kind of communication) about all of the books or films they'll be teaching. Parents have always had the right to remove their kids from a situation where they are reading or watching something that you think is inappropriate, and alternative assignments need to be prepared. That's pretty standard.
But do parents have the right to insist that there is no easy access to the material? I think no book should be banned but I also don’t think a 8 year old should be able to go pull a copy of Mein Kempf for casual reading and I feel that there needs to be a middle ground. The schools need to do a better job in sending home those syllabuses and saying what they are instructing in. And if a book in a library has some questionable material put it a section that not anyone can walk into. And yes I worry about it going to far when I see books like To Kill A Mocking Bird attacked.
I think parents have a right to express their worries and to have schools take them seriously and work together for solutions that are acceptable to people across the ideological spectrum.
Interesting article regarding school choice at a more extreme end for special education. What happens when the school says what they provide is good enough and the parents say it is not
With each post/article/wise-critique, I am weekly affirmed in my teaching practices. Thanks, bro.
Thanks for reading, my friend!
So, I will ask for patience with my horrible grammar and play devils advocate. At what point should there be bans on what is in a public school library? Should 2nd graders have access to pornography? Should works deemed too controversial be in a roped off section like a 80’s movie rental store? Parents have a right to what there child is exposed to and not exposed to. If I don’t want my child exposed to To Kill a Mockingbird because I disagree with it for some reason, do not have the right to ask the school not to expose my child to it? What about when teachers decide they know better than I do and decide to expose my child to something? Parent rights and students rights are a fine line my friend, and the right pushed that line but the left equally pushes that line even more. It just doesn’t get covered the same. As for school vouchers, we can agree to disagree. If the school my child is assigned to sucks, I shouldn’t have to pay for my child to go to private school or rely on a scholarship. If the state is the responsible steward of tax dollars then it is on them to provide the proper setting, if they can’t they absolutely should be on the hook for it. Look at the school in Boston they are trying have the National Guard called into it order to maintain order in it.
Shawn, I definitely appreciate your engagement with the post, and I'll tackle the most salient points here. It's fine if you don't want your child exposed to To Kill a Mockingbird, but that's between you and your child. You don't have the *right* to remove it from a library that is publicly funded, although you do have the right to talk about why you dislike the book in any public forum you wish. Also, teachers at all levels are typically supposed to inform parents (either in a syllabus or some other kind of communication) about all of the books or films they'll be teaching. Parents have always had the right to remove their kids from a situation where they are reading or watching something that you think is inappropriate, and alternative assignments need to be prepared. That's pretty standard.
But do parents have the right to insist that there is no easy access to the material? I think no book should be banned but I also don’t think a 8 year old should be able to go pull a copy of Mein Kempf for casual reading and I feel that there needs to be a middle ground. The schools need to do a better job in sending home those syllabuses and saying what they are instructing in. And if a book in a library has some questionable material put it a section that not anyone can walk into. And yes I worry about it going to far when I see books like To Kill A Mocking Bird attacked.
I think parents have a right to express their worries and to have schools take them seriously and work together for solutions that are acceptable to people across the ideological spectrum.
Interesting article regarding school choice at a more extreme end for special education. What happens when the school says what they provide is good enough and the parents say it is not
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/why-one-school-district-spent-1-million-fighting-a-special-education-student-8b44ecca