Texas Bans ‘Sexually Explicit’ Books In Schools. Law ‘Gets That Trash Out,’ Gov. Greg Abbott Says
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed a bill that prohibits "sexually explicit material" in public school libraries, but acknowledges that further work is needed from lawmakers on education-related legislation. In recent years, debates have arisen in Texas districts regarding the appropriateness of certain books in school libraries and the role of parents in monitoring reading material. The new law in Texas mandates the creation of standards for school libraries by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, which includes a ban on "sexually explicit" material.
Under the new law, book vendors will be responsible for categorizing library materials as either "sexually explicit" or "sexually relevant." Books labeled as "sexually relevant" may be accessible to students with parental approval, while books deemed explicit cannot be sold to districts and must be recalled if in library collections. Governor Abbott has also signed three other "parental empowerment" bills that relate to the selection process for instructional materials, a fund to assist parents in paying for special education services outside the classroom, and a bill that allows parents to decide if their child should repeat a grade.
The motivation for this library book law stemmed from a previous incident in which a former North Texas representative targeted over 800 books in a school library investigation in 2021. These books covered topics such as race, sex, and sexuality.
According to a report from the free speech organization PEN America, instances of book bans increased by 28% in the first half of the 2022-2023 school year compared to the six months prior. The report found that 30% of the banned books were related to race, racism, or featured characters of color, and 26% contained LGBTQ characters or themes. Texas was identified as one of the states with the highest number of book bans.
Governor Abbott has announced that a special session will be held to focus on "parental empowerment" in education. He emphasized the need to fulfill the promise to parents that they will have the ability to choose the best education pathway for their child. Abbott has been a proponent of education savings accounts, a program similar to vouchers that would allow state funds to be used for private education. The issue of vouchers has generated debate between the House and Senate recently, with discussions also involving the possibility of teacher pay raises. Governor Abbott stated that the special session will likely include topics such as education savings accounts, teacher pay, and other relevant education policies.
Abbott expressed his commitment to providing increased funding for public education and teacher pay raises, asserting that he would authorize more funding than any previous governor in the history of Texas, in addition to the funds allocated during the regular legislative session.
