Rep. Schiff Statement on Department of Education Investigating Book Bans
Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), released the following statement in response to the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights finding that “a Georgia school district may have violated its students’ civil rights by removing certain books from its libraries, creating a ‘hostile environment’ for students based on race, sex or national origin.”:
“Earlier this year, I joined former educators Rep. Bowman and Rep. Hayes in writing to Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine Lhamon to express concern over the increasingly politically-motivated and partisan policies that we are seeing in schools across America, including censoring curriculum, revising history, and banning books that discuss diverse ideas and people. We urged the Department of Education and the Office for Civil Rights to look into these policies and determine if they were violating any laws. This week, The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced they have taken action on a book ban that affected schools in Forsyth County, Georgia. While there is much more that needs to be done to stem the discriminatory and hostile policies we are seeing crop up, this is a positive step by the Department of Education to protect students’ civil liberties.”
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