One of the most powerful texts I use in teaching writing is the Prologue to Louise DeSalvo’s memoir, Vertigo. We read only the first page, but it is charged with purposeful writing and engaging storytelling of a young woman fleeing the angers of her home and seeking sanctuary: The narrative voice of DeSalvo as an ..read more

Should the bigoted ideology of the KKK determine what books teachers can teach and what books students can read for an entire public school ..read more

Over 18 years of teaching high school English, I taught American literature for English III (mostly a course for juniors) as part of the required curriculum in South Carolina. Our required reading list of novels and plays was quite bad, overwhelmingly white authors and so-called classic works of literature (although the “classic” was merely the ..read more

“But in The Handmaid’s Tale, nothing happens that the human race has not already done at some time in the past, or that it is not doing now, perhaps in other countries, or for which it has not yet developed technology,” explains Margaret Atwood in “Writing Utopia,” adding, “We’ve done it, or we’re doing it ..read more

Americans are less free in 2023 than just a couple years ago. While some may see Florida’s assault on books, school curriculum, and higher education as an aberration, censorship, bans, and curriculum gag orders are increasingly common across the US, as reported by Eesha Pendharkar: This is the third year in a row in which ..read more

This is the story of a religiously and politically conservative couple who committed to changing how children are taught in the U.S. (see HERE or HERE): The Gablers’ views are straight-forward and comprehensive. They believe that the purpose of education is “the imparting of factual knowledge, basic skills and cultural heritage” and that education is ..read more

I am not a high-profile journalist with platforms at APM, Education Week, and the New York Times. So I have to imagine that hearing from teachers and parents raising concerns about how the “science of reading” (SOR) movement isn’t representing them and even silencing and bullying them is only a fraction of those experiencing the ..read more

Banned in the USA: Lighting a Fire for Reading and Not to Books Roundtable Sessions 12:30 PM PST – 1:45 PM PST 264-BC Across the U.S. in 2021, Republicans introduced and passed legislation restricting curriculum/instruction and censoring books and texts (over 850 identified in Texas), often under the rhetorical umbrella of “banning Critical Race Theory ..read more

Advocates Launch “Freedom to Read” Coalition to Fight Book Bans Across South Carolina FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 27, 2022 CONTACT: Laura Swinford, ACLU of South Carolina, laura@gpsimpact.com Columbia, S.C. — Advocates and community leaders today launched “Freedom to Read SC,” a statewide coalition that will work to defeat unconstitutional efforts to ban books from school ..read more