Dr.

Jocelyn Becoats, Chief Officer Board of Education Members Guilford School District 712 North Eugene Street Greensboro, NC 27401 November 29, 2012 Dear Dr. Becoats and Members of the Board of Education, We are writing with regard to recent complaints about books in the High School AP and IB English programs in the Guilford County School District. It is our understanding that parents of students in the district have objected specifically to Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale and Kurt Vonneguts Cats Cradle on the grounds that they denigrate Christianity and tear down traditional values. Neither has a child who is enrolled in the classes in which these books are taught. We understand that no formal complaint has been filed with either the school or district. Instead, the parents complained directly to members of the Board of Education and are circulating a petition to put pressure on the district to revise its curriculum. We applaud the board for resisting this pressure, and supporting a curriculum that offers materials to challenge and enrich the educational experience of students who elect to take advanced courses. Margaret Atwood is a highly regarded contemporary writer, and The Handmaids Tale (McClelland and Stewart), which is frequently taught in advanced high school and university classes, is one of her best-known works. The novel, which depicts a dystopian future in which women are valued as breeders, won the Governor General's Award and the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and was nominated for the prestigious Booker Prize. Michael Albert, an AP English teacher in Grimsley High School, eloquently explained its literary value at the Guilford School Board Meeting on November 8, 2012. Mr. Albert explained that the main character wants to rebel against this kind of sexuality promoted by her society, and this is not that different from the conflict many of our children face, rebelling against and resisting conformity to a society that promotes promiscuity and licentiousness. Like The Handmaids Tale, Kurt Vonneguts Cats Cradle (Dell Publishing) has its foundation in politics and recent events, but uses humor and satire to open a critical window on many aspects of society we

might otherwise take for granted. Rather than indoctrinate or denigrate, Cats Cradle posits situations and creates questions designed to re-sensitize readers to their shared humanity. Like, Atwood, Vonnegut is widely considered one of the most influential contemporary writers. Both novels are works of speculative fiction or fantasy, genres that the North Carolina Standard Course of Study states nurtures the imagination and can be useful vehicles for examining issues related to human survival in an uncertain future. North Carolinas standards also mandate that students must develop their ability to think and reasonIf graduates are to function effectively now and in the 21st century, they must be able to acquire and integrate new information, make judgments, apply information, and reflect on learning. Books like The Handmaids Tale and Cats Cradle are recognized as effective teaching tools because they challenge students to explore the unfamiliar, expand their worldview, and help them hone their critical thinking skills. It would be educationally irresponsible and constitutionally questionable to remove curricular materials that are pedagogically suitable because some parents disagree with or are offended by their ideas or content. Students whose parents object to such material may request alternative assignments for their children, but they have no right to insist that the curriculum be altered to reflect their views. As Mr. Albert aptly pointed out to the School Board, if books were removed because of objections to controversial content, such as sex and suicide, wed have to ban nearly every work of Shakespeare and much of the literary canon starting with Romeo and Juliet. Many courts have rejected demands that schools remove materials or alter curriculum requirements because they offend some students or parents religious beliefs. [W]hile parents can choose between public and private schools, they do not have a constitutional right to direct how a public school teaches their child. Parker v. Hurley, 514 F. 3d 87, 102 (1st Cir., 2008) The view of these parents are not shared by all Guilford parents, and they have no right to impose their views on others or demand that the educational program reflect their personal preferences. Public schools have an 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 to a curriculum for each student whose parents had genuine moral disagreements with the schools 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). Indeed, "[p]ublic schools are not obliged to shield individual students from ideas which potentially are religiously offensive, particularly when the school imposes no requirement that the student agree with or affirm those ideas, or even participate in discussions about them." Parker v. Hurley, 514 F. 3d at 106. 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 parents request to censor materials will be to invite more challenges, and to leave school officials vulnerable to multiple, possibly conflicting demands. Indeed, giving in to the demand to remove a book because it 2

denigrates Christianity, or in response to other objections about content and viewpoint, would potentially violate the rights of other students to an education that allows the expression of divergent views and shows no preference for or deference to specific religious beliefs. We urge you to continue to protect students constitutional right to read widelya right that cannot be infringed in order to cater to specific views or beliefs. We applaud the decision of the district to stand by its policies and the professional decisions of its instructional committee in the face of public and media scrutiny. If there is anything we can do to support your efforts to protect the integrity of the educational program in Guilford and to respect the constitutional principles essential to sound public education, please do not hesitate to contact us. Sincerely,

Joan Bertin Executive Director National Coalition Against Censorship

Chris Finan President American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression

Charles Brownstein Executive Director Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

Judith Platt Director, Free Expression Advocacy Association of American Publishers

Alexandra Owens Executive Director American Society of Journalists and Authors

Barbara Jones Executive Director, Office of Intellectual Freedom American Library Association

Florrie Kichler President The Independent Book Publishers Association

Kent Williamson Executive Director National Council of Teachers of English

Larry Siems, Director, Freedom to Write & International Programs PEN American Center

Lin Oliver Executive Director Society of Childrens Book Writers & Illustrators