Biden’s education officials override Georgia parents to safeguard porn in schools.
Biden Administration Bullies Georgia School District Over Pornographic Books
Bureaucrats in President Joe Biden’s Department of Education just put their thumb on the scale of a book dispute in Georgia by not only smearing parents’ concerns about sexually explicit books in schools but also leveraging their federal power to intimidate districts that have successfully purged porn from campuses.
The Biden administration is at it again, using federal power to silence parents and push their own agenda. This time, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is targeting Forsyth County Schools in Georgia for removing sexually explicit books from their shelves. The OCR not only dismissed parents’ concerns but also demanded that the district offer “supportive measures” to students impacted by the book removal process. The federal agency even ordered a “climate survey” to assess whether additional steps need to be taken.
But the district and parents agree: pornographic material has no place in schools. After months of ignoring parents’ calls for change, the district finally took action and removed several inappropriate books from school bookshelves. However, the fight wasn’t over yet. The OCR launched an investigation into the district, accusing them of creating a “hostile environment” for students based on race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, and identity.
District and Parents Agree: Porn Shouldn’t Be in Schools
Clamor over inappropriate content in Forsyth schools first surfaced in 2021 when parents discovered several titles including sexually explicit material were made available by schools to their children. One parent told The Federalist that despite several attempts to contact the district, she never heard back until January 2022.
After months of ignoring parents’ calls for change, the district called a District Media Committee meeting to independently discuss how to address ongoing concerns about unsuitable content in the classroom. By Jan. 21, 2022, FCS Superintendent Dr. Jeff Bearden asked the chief technology and information officer (CTIO) to “pull from school libraries books that were obviously sexually explicit or pornographic.”
“For us, it’s not about censorship because, obviously, students and parents have the right to choose to read whatever they want outside of the school,” FCS Chief Communications Officer Jennifer Caracciolo clarified. “They can purchase it or they can go to the public library. But we have a responsibility whenever it comes to sexually explicit content in the walls of our buildings.”
For a while, it seemed like the schools and the parents were beginning to get on the same page. But the fight wasn’t over yet.
Twisted Tales
During its investigation, the OCR was quick to overlook the role parents and taxpayers have the right to play in the education of children, instead complaining that “the District did not make an announcement to, or have other communication with, students about the removal of the books.”
The OCR admitted in its findings letter that the school administration made it clear that the books in question “had not been reviewed for LGBTQI+ content or moral dilemma issues, just sexual explicitness.” Yet, OCR accused FCS parents of making what it characterized as “negative comments about diversity and inclusion or critical race theory.”
“Many parents called for the removal of additional books, with most of their comments focused on sexually explicit content; however, some comments focused on removing books for reasons related to gender identity or sexual orientation,” the letter stated.
The OCR additionally accused the district of giving the “impression that books were being screened to exclude diverse authors and characters, including people who are LGBTQI+ and authors who are not white, leading to increased fears and possibly harassment.”
It’s time for the Biden administration to stop bullying parents and school districts and start listening to their concerns. Pornographic material has no place in schools, and parents have the right to protect their children from harmful content.
Parents Fight Back Against Explicit Books in School Libraries
Attempts at book banning have now extended to “banning” books at the bidding of parents. The OCR, in turn, cited the media’s rage as proof that parents and the district somehow overstepped their bounds by protecting minors from sexually explicit content.
One Atlanta Journal-Constitution article lamented that “Juliet Takes a Breath,” a book known for, as Common Sense Media put it, “detailed scenes of kissing and lovemaking between two women, sexual fantasies, masturbation, and periods, as well as extensive discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity,” would no longer be available to students. Another book called “Monday’s Not Coming,” one reviewer noted, is filled with “homosexuality, promiscuity, intercourse, and prostitution” as well as child abuse. That book was sent “to local media center review committees for further analysis” by the school district.
Similar coverage dominated corporate media pages after the OCR’s letter was published in May.
Despite these particular books’ inappropriate content, parents’ ongoing pleas for the taxpayer-funded district to stop supplying pornographic material to children, and the district’s expensive legal defeat, multiple problematic books were eventually approved to return to school shelves, along with more than half a dozen other titles for high schools, after review by a committee.
Parents Speak Out
Shortly after the school district pulled the handful of explicit books, parents gathered at a Forsyth County Board of Education meeting to express their concern that children were being exposed to even more explicit books via the school system.
“If it is inappropriate to read in this building, then it is inappropriate, inappropriate to be in a library,” Hair said. “How dare you say ‘Oh, well, there’s minors in here.’ Wait, what is it? My son’s a minor and this book that you all have copies is in my son’s middle school.”
Hair’s frustrations were echoed by more than a dozen other parents.
“I have an 11-year-old and this is not allowed in our house nor would I allow him to pick this book up at Barnes and Noble or your school library that you provide for my children,” Ann Christopher, a mother to a Forsyth County middle schooler, said. “Also, you say respect the rules. You’re telling Alison to respect the rules. Excuse me. This is in my child’s face if he chose to check it out. What rules are you respecting for my child who can’t speak for [himself]? I’m the one here to protect my child, nobody else is. That’s why we parents are here.”
Legal Victory for Parents
In a complaint filed in July 2022, Mama Bears of Forsyth members Hair, who was barred from school board meetings after attempting to read from another explicit passage in March, and Martin alleged that the Forsyth County Board of Education violated their First Amendment rights as parents to speak up about what kind of reading materials their children are exposed to.
In February 2023, a judge ruled that the FCS board violated Hair and Martin’s constitutional rights and must pay $100,000 in legal fees.
The Biden Administration’s OCR Investigation and FCS’s Decision to Pull Books
The Biden administration’s OCR investigation and demand for a mea culpa from FCS over its decision to pull bad books is likely only going to deter the district from taking any further drastic action when it comes to porn and inappropriate content in schools.
But don’t worry, FCS parents are not deterred. As Martin reassured The Federalist, it’s time for parents to wake up and take action.
What Can Parents Do?
- Stay informed about what your children are learning in school.
- Speak up and voice your concerns to school administrators and elected officials.
- Protect your parental rights and advocate for your children’s education.
It’s time to take a stand against the normalization of pornography and inappropriate content in our schools. Let’s work together to ensure our children receive a safe and appropriate education.
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