When Republicans controlled the school board in Pennridge, a town north of Philadelphia, they removed books with "age-inappropriate sexualized content" from the school library and required students to use the bathrooms that align to their biological sex, reports Dana Goldstein in the New York Times. Two years ago, a slate of Democrats swept the school board elections. But they didn't put all the "banned" books back on library shelves, she writes. The transgender bathroom policy was modified, not reversed.
"At least for now, teachers remain barred from displaying identity markers like rainbow flags," Goldstein writes. "There has been no move to reinstate the diversity, equity and inclusion trainings and reading assignments that were canceled by the previous board."
Furthermore, parents now expect to have "visibility into all that their children are learning and reading at school — and some measure of a veto," she reports.
Among the two dozen books removed from the high school library were Toni Morrison's Beloved, which includes rape, infanticide and torture, and John Irving's The Cider House Rules, which deals with abortion.
The old school board reduced the number of social studies credits required to graduate, and hired a conservative consultant to create a ninth-grade course stressing civics and the American founding. When Democrats won a majority of board seats, the new curriculum was canceled in mid-year.
The new Democratic-majority board decided to set aside one pair of bathrooms at the high school so transgender students could use the bathroom of their choice. It removed language about gender and sex from the policy on library materials.
However, it's not anything goes, writes Goldstein. Superintendent Angelo Berrios has removed dozens of manga graphic novels with “explicit graphic displays of sexual acts,” as well as and Blue is the Warmest Color, a French graphic novel about a first lesbian romance. Cider House Rules and 10 other works remain banned.
Furthermore, the school board president has "promised to publish online all of the high school library’s acquisitions, allowing parents to peruse them and file complaints."
It's not just conservative parents who want to know what's on library shelves or classroom reading lists, Goldstein writes. Left-wing parents want a say too.