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The national furor in recent years around on race and gender in public schools is intensifying as President-elect Donald Trump threatens to shut down the Department of Education, emboldening conservatives to end “wokeness” in classrooms. Battles over books in have become emblematic of the country’s larger culture wars over race, historical revisionism and gender identity. A found book bans increased by nearly 200% during the 2023-24 school year, including titles on sexuality, substance abuse, depression and other issues students face in an age of accelerating technologies, climate change, toxic politics and fears about the future. Book censorship has shaken and divided school boards, pitted parents against parents, and led to . It is part of an agenda driven by conservative parental rights groups and politicians who promote and voucher systems that could weaken public education. The issue goes to the heart not only of what students are taught but how federal and state education policies will affect the nation’s politics after one of the most consequential elections in its history. “It’s not just about taking a book off a shelf,” said Tasslyn Magnusson, an author and teacher from Wisconsin who tracks book censorship across the U.S. “It’s about power and who controls public education. It’s about what kind of America we were and are. We’re trying to define what family is and what America means. That comes down to the stories we tell.” She said she feared Trump’s return to the White House would further incite those calling for book bans: “I don’t have lots of hope. It could get a lot worse.” Over the last year, PEN counted more than 10,000 book bans nationwide that targeted 4,231 unique titles. Most were books dealing with gender, sexuality, race and LGBTQ+ storylines. The most banned title was about a school shooting that included a short description of date rape. Florida and Iowa — both of which have strict regulations on what students can read — accounted for more than 8,200 bans in the 2023-24 school year. “This crisis is tragic for young people hungry to understand the world they live in and see their identities and experiences reflected in books,” Kasey Meehan, director of PEN’s Freedom to Read Program, said in a statement. “What students can read in schools provides the foundation for their lives.” Trump’s calls to close the would need congressional approval, which appears unlikely. Although public schools are largely funded and governed by state and local institutions, the department helps pay to educate students with disabilities, provides about $18 billion in grants for K-12 schools in poor communities and oversees a civil rights branch to protect students from discrimination. But Trump’s election has inspired conservative parental groups, including Moms For Liberty and Parents Defending Education, to strengthen efforts to limit what they see as a liberal conspiracy to indoctrinate children with books and teachings that are perverse, amoral and pornographic. Tiffany Justice, co-founder of Moms for Liberty, has criticized schools that she says spend too much time on diversity and inclusion when only about one-third of U.S. children are reading at grade level: “We’re talking about public school libraries and content for kids,” Justice told NewsNation after Trump’s victory. “I think it’s very clear that there are certain things that are appropriate for kids, certain things that are appropriate for adults. We’re just getting back to commonsense America.” Trump’s threat to to schools that acknowledge transgender identities could affect curricula and the kinds of books school libraries stock. During his rally at Madison Square Garden in October, Trump — who has has accused schools of promoting sex change operations — said his administration would get “transgender insanity the hell out of our schools.” Vice President-elect JD Vance has accused Democrats of wanting to “put sexually explicit books in toddlers’ libraries.” Nicole Neily, president of Parents Defending Education, told Newsmax that she was excited about Trump’s calls to remake education and “clean up a lot of the mess” he has inherited from the Biden administration. Trump “has centered parental rights back in his platform, which is incredible. He has prioritized knowledge and skill, not identity politics,” she said. “American children deserve better, and it is time for change.” In nominating to be his secretary of Education, Trump appears to be pushing for more conservative parental control over what is taught and read in classrooms. A former professional wrestling executive, McMahon chairs the America First Policy Institute, a Trump-connected organization that has criticized schools for teaching “racially divisive” theories, notably about slavery and a perspective about the nation’s founding it views as anti-American. “Today’s contentious debates over using classrooms for political activism rather than teaching a complete and accurate account of American history have reinvigorated calls for greater parental and citizen involvement in the curriculum approval process,” the institute’s website says. Culturally divisive issues, including race and LGBTQ+ themes, cost school districts an estimated $3.2 billion during the 2023-24 school year, according to a recent study called The survey — published by the Institute for Democracy, Education and Access at UCLA — found that battles over books and teaching about sexuality and other topics led to increased expenses for legal fees, replacing administrators and teachers who quit, and security, including off-duty plainclothes police officers. “Are we really going to spend our tax dollars on these kinds of things?” asked Magnusson. “After Trump was elected, I saw a bunch of middle-class white ladies like me who were saying, ‘This isn’t America.’ But maybe it is America.” One school superintendent in a Western state told the study’s researchers that his staff was often consumed with correcting misinformation and fulfilling public record requests mainly from hard-line parental rights activists attempting to exploit cultural war issues to discredit the district. “Our staff are spending enormous amounts of time just doing stupid stuff,” the superintendent said. “The fiscal costs to the district are enormous, but [so are] the cultural costs of not standing up to the extremists. If someone doesn’t, then the students and employees lose. ... It’s the worst it’s ever been.” The survey found that 29% of 467 school superintendents interviewed reported that teachers and other staff quit their profession or left their districts “due to culturally divisive conflict.” Censoring books in school libraries grew out of opposition to COVID-19 restrictions. A number of conservative parental groups, including Moms for Liberty, which invited Trump to speak at its national convention in August, turned their attention to lobbying against “liberal indoctrination.” Their protests against what they criticized as progressive teaching on sexuality and race were focused on increasing conservative parental control over a public education system that was That strategy has led to a national, right-wing effort that is “redefining government power to restrict access to information in our schools,” said Stephana Ferrell, co-founder of the Florida Freedom to Read Project. “This movement to protect the innocence of our children believes if children never read it in a book they won’t have to know about it and can go on to lead harmonious lives. But books teach us cautionary tales. They instruct us. You can’t protect innocence through ignorance.” School districts across the country have removed “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe and “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George Johnson, which are about gender identity and include graphic depictions of sex, along with titles by renowned writers such as Toni Morrison, Kurt Vonnegut, George Orwell, Maya Angelou and Flannery O’Connor. Related Articles Surveys show that most Americans do not favor censorship. The Florida Freedom to Read Project and similar organizations around the country have called for thorough public reviews of challenged books to prevent one scene or passage from being taken out of context. Moderate and liberal parents groups over the last two years have also become more active in school board politics. They have supported school board candidates who have defeated those backed by Moms for Liberty in Texas, Florida and other states. “People say the pendulum will swing back,” said Ferrell. But, she said, conservatives want to “stop the pendulum from swinging back.” Picoult is accustomed to conservatives attempting to censor her. Her books have been banned in schools in more than 30 states. Published in 2007, “Nineteen Minutes” explores the lives of characters, including a girl who was raped, in a town leading up to a school shooting and its aftermath. “Having the most banned book in the country is not a badge of honor. It’s a call for alarm,” said Picoult, whose books have sold more than 40 million copies. “My book, and the 10,000 others that have been pulled off school library shelves this year, give kids a tool to deal with an increasingly divided and difficult world. These book banners aren’t helping children. They are harming them.” ©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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US judge will not delay Google search trial for DOJ switch to Trump administrationShare this Story : Spears: Environment Canada dangerously optimistic on climate change action Copy Link Email X Reddit Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Breadcrumb Trail Links Opinion Columnists Spears: Environment Canada dangerously optimistic on climate change action Documents finally made public show just how off-base the government has been on climate change. I can’t count the number of targets set up by cities, provinces and the feds. We’ve spectacularly missed each one. Author of the article: Tom Spears Published Nov 27, 2024 • Last updated 6 hours ago • 4 minute read Join the conversation You can save this article by registering for free here . Or sign-in if you have an account. A climate change activist carries a message to Parliament Hill. Photo by Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press Article content Environment Canada recently took five-and-a-half years to answer an Access to Information request from me, and a funny thing happened. The answer became more relevant with time, not less. Here’s why. Article content Article content In April of 2019, the federal government published a study showing that Canada’s climate is warming at about twice the speed of most countries. It wasn’t a big surprise: scientists have said for decades that climate change will be greatest in Earth’s far north and south. The study added fresh details to this. Advertisement 2 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles from Elizabeth Payne, David Pugliese, Andrew Duffy, Bruce Deachman and others. Plus, food reviews and event listings in the weekly newsletter, Ottawa, Out of Office. Unlimited online access to Ottawa Citizen and 15 news sites with one account. Ottawa Citizen ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles from Elizabeth Payne, David Pugliese, Andrew Duffy, Bruce Deachman and others. Plus, food reviews and event listings in the weekly newsletter, Ottawa, Out of Office. Unlimited online access to Ottawa Citizen and 15 news sites with one account. Ottawa Citizen ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Sign In or Create an Account Email Address Continue or View more offers If you are a Home delivery print subscriber, online access is included in your subscription. Activate your Online Access Now Article content Then my boss asked me: Why are they releasing this study in the same week as the unpopular new carbon tax takes effect? Were they timing their science to justify an unpopular tax? I paid my five bucks back in 2019 and asked for emails inside Environment Canada’s communications office about the study’s release. The answer has finally arrived. It shows no political shenanigans, but something perhaps more disturbing. It shows optimism. Too much blind optimism. And the five-year-old papers take on new relevance when seen through today’s eyes. The 600 pages of emails leading up to the study’s release have all the usual planning: speeches, technical briefings, “infobytes” on Facebook and Twitter. All normal. There are also suggestions on answering media questions. Among them, what if a reporter asks how Canada is doing with our commitment (made in 2015) to cut our greenhouse emissions by 30 per cent by 2030? (Note: That was the target back then. The feds now promise to cut emissions by 40 to 45 per cent.) The suggested response is where things get interesting: “Canada is committed to meeting its Paris Agreement target by 2030. We have a plan to get us there. Advertisement 3 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content “Our climate action plan, the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change, includes over 50 concrete measures to reduce carbon pollution, foster clean technology solutions, and create good jobs that contribute to a stronger economy.” And “Canada’s GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions in 2030 are expected to be 223 million tonnes lower than projected prior to the adoption” of this plan. There’s even better news: “Additional reductions will come from measures that have not yet been modelled ... ” These “will allow Canada to meet its 2030 target and position Canada to set and achieve deeper emission reduction” after 2030. It’s resounding stuff, and important, if accurate. But I don’t think we’re getting anywhere near either the original target for 2030 or the current version. Nine years into the plan, little to show I’ve been covering environment news since 1988, the year when a famous international conference in Toronto, called The Changing Atmosphere , made greenhouse gases big news everywhere. I honestly can’t count the number of targets set up by cities, provinces and the feds since. And we’ve spectacularly missed each one. Not just missed, but flamed out. Remember the Kyoto Protocol, when our emissions went up, not down? Advertisement 4 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content And now? Nine years into our 15-year plan (2015 to 2030), we’ve nibbled away at emissions but are nowhere close to the target. By 2022 we cut our emissions by seven per cent, federal figures show . Estimates say we likely reduced another percentage point in 2023. So even the original goal of 30 per cent is a long way off. Yet here are documents talking down to us, not just promising to reach (and surpass) targets but dismissively shrugging off any suggestion that this may be harder than they think. They are selling the bear’s skin before catching the bear. In 2019, I stood at a pre-election news conference where Catherine McKenna, environment minister at the time, explained that our switch from fossil fuels to cleaner electric power would parallel the cellphone revolution, making the Paris climate deal work. New technology would drive this. Details — the hard part — would come later. That’s always the way. A few years back, a group that studies energy policy, led by Monica Gattinger at the University of Ottawa, published a paper on “dangerous optimism” — the tendency of governments to make climate commitments with no idea of how to reach them. I wish Canadian governments would stop this. Advertisement 5 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content A parallel thought: Let’s say a government is presented with two options — end all heart disease in two years for $10 billion, or take four years but save some money. What’s the right option? There isn’t one, because no one knows how to end all heart disease, and a cheque and a stupid schedule won’t change that. A plan and a framework didn’t save the world at the Rio Summit (1992) or Kyoto (1997) or Copenhagen, Glasgow, Lima, Sharm El-Sheikh, Dubai and 20-plus other international promise-fests that followed, and they won’t now. Show me you can do the job. Brag later. Journalist Tom Spears is a former Ottawa Citizen environment reporter. Recommended from Editorial Spears: Environment Canada still hasn't answered my carbon-tax query — 5 years later As environment committee approves fee increases, delegates want timely climate change data Article content Share this article in your social network Share this Story : Spears: Environment Canada dangerously optimistic on climate change action Copy Link Email X Reddit Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Comments You must be logged in to join the discussion or read more comments. Create an Account Sign in Join the Conversation Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information. 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Security Service Shakeup in Wake of Allamjonov Assassination AttemptNevada prosecutors have refiled criminal charges against the six Republican “fake electors” who tried to overturn Donald Trump ’s 2020 defeat in that state. The retooled charges were announced Thursday by Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat. His original case , filed last year, was thrown out by a Las Vegas judge who concluded it was filed in the wrong venue. The new charges were brought in Carson City, the state capital, where the fake electors cast their sham ballots in 2020. CNN reported earlier this week that the new charges were expected soon, to resolve the jurisdictional hiccup and to avoid the statute of limitations potentially lapsing. “While we disagree with the finding of improper venue and will continue to seek to overturn it, we are preserving our legal rights in order to ensure that these fake electors do not escape justice,” Ford said in a statement. The six defendants were each charged with one felony count of alleged forgery, according to the charging documents. CNN has reached out to the defendants, who have all previously denied wrongdoing. Ford has previously said that he is moving ahead with his case regardless of the fact that Trump won the election. Trump can’t order the Justice Department to drop these state-level prosecutions, and he can’t pardon the defendants for alleged state crimes. The six Nevada Republicans facing renewed charges include state GOP chair Michael McDonald and Clark County GOP chair Jesse Law, who were selected by the Trump campaign to be his real electors this year. Because Trump won Nevada this year, they’ll cast electoral votes for him on Tuesday as part of the official Electoral College process. Nevada was one of seven states across the country that Trump lost in 2020, where his campaign assembled slates of illegitimate electors . Trump and his allies then tried to use those fake GOP electors to overturn the results of the 2020 election on January 6, 2021, when Congress met to tally up the real electors from each state. “The actions the fake electors undertook in 2020 violated Nevada criminal law and were direct attempts to both sow doubt in our democracy and undermine the results of a free and fair election,” Ford said. “Justice requires that these actions not go unpunished.” Separately, Ford publicly confirmed for the first time on Thursday that he intends to run for Nevada governor in 2026, challenging incumbent Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo.
A well-known multinational payment card service just joined forces with BitcoinTrump’s promises to conservatives raise fears of more book bans in US