Culture Wars at the Schoolhouse Gate: A Case Study of School Board Decision-Making and Students’ Rights

• In Event: Undermining Democracy: Public Education Disrupted

Abstract

This study centers on efforts in a large suburban district to remove books from classroom libraries such as Prince & Knight and My Princess Boy. The decision in Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District No. 26 v. Pico (1982) is the reigning standard on book-banning cases. This study found that Pico (1982) did not influence the decision-making process. Additionally, the categories Justice Brennan used in the Pico (1982) opinion did not align with the way school board members approached library books and curriculum. The findings indicate that the missing connections between Supreme Court rulings and the decision-making of school board members may have implications for the speech and expression rights of public school students during a book challenge.

Author

• Pamela Catherine Callahan, University of Maryland