US Constitutional 14th Amendment Standards
To the Editor:
Not only are there 1st Amendment rights that the Board of Education must respect, but there are also 14th Amendment rights that need to be considered in Newtown. Our policies provide for a process that must be followed and not usurped by select majority board members who simply do not like some of the content of books. As noted by a member of the Board, the members are not experts. The experts are the educators of the Special Committee for which the very process is established.
Our librarians already go through rigorous analysis when initially selecting books. According to our own policy, they consider support of curriculum needs, status of existing collection timeliness, permanency and quality of writing, readability, popular appeal, authoritativeness, reputation of the learning source, importance of the author, importance of the subject matter. Furthermore, a special committee composed of experts within the district then do another comprehensive analysis when a book is challenged.
On multiple levels, Newtown has already done extensive expert analysis on the books in question. They have ALL agreed the books belong in the high school library. The sole decision of the Board is to affirm the decision of the Special Committee unless a member feels that the decision was made without any evidence or it abused its discretion.
This is an extremely high hurdle and no evidence of abuse of discretion of the special committee has been presented. Therefore, usurping Newtown’s own process would be a violation of the 14th Amendment, which requires State agencies to conform with due process. See also, Minarcini v. Strongsville City School District 541 F.2.d 577 (6th Cir. 1976)
Our BOE has a duty to respect the 1st and 14th Amendments. It is NOT their job to perform an independent analysis of books that reside in our school libraries.
The Board’s only job is either to confirm or deny the specialist committee’s unanimous vote to keep the books in the High School Library. A vote against the committee is a vote against the specialists. A vote against the specialists is a vote against our educators.
Newtown Allies for Change
Kate McGrady, Nicole Maddox, Nerlande Foote, Jessica Velasco, Don Lococo, Laura Maine
A vote against the committee is a repudiation of the agenda being promulgated by the administrators, teachers and so-called library professionals. Social change is not in the purview of these folks.
“so-called library media specialists”?
How is this a 1st or 14th Amendment issue? My right to read the book is not being curtailed. In New York times v. Sullivan, the 1st Amendment issue was the Newspaper’s right, not the right of an individual citizen was being curtailed. The right goes with the publisher/author and not the reader. as to the 14th Amendment how is my right as a citizen to have due process being violated. Perhaps the books right is being violated, but again, the right does not attach to the individual citizen requesting the book, but to the book or author. seeking to be made available.
Legal threats against the BOE is a great look for the Allies.
I hope that the BOE members who are planning on banning these books have followed all of the ethical guidelines for their position…I hope that they haven’t made up stories about how they’re choosing these books or filling out forms for their friends to use as a model. I hope their spouses haven’t been posting threats against school staff on their social media accounts.