Hank Sanders , The New York Times; Five Charged in Cheating Scandal That Helped Over 200 ‘Unqualified’ Texas Teachers
"More than 200 “unqualified teachers” in Texas were able to get jobs or promotions at schools across the state under a board scheme in which impersonators were paid to take more than 400 certification exams for them, prosecutors said this week."
Ileana Garnad, Lonestar Live; Houston-area library moves Indigenous history book to fiction section
"A Houston-area public library reclassified a nonfiction children’s book about Native American history as fiction, after the title was reviewed by citizens, not librarians.
“I can only assume it is because it is a telling of the history of Indigenous people that they do not approve of,” said Teresa Kenney, a Montgomery County resident and founder of the Village Books store.
In September, “Colonization and the Wampanoag Story,” by Linda Coombs, was challenged in Montgomery County libraries by an unknown person, according to public records obtained by Kenney. Per county policy, the book was reviewed by a group of five citizens who weren’t required to consult a librarian...
The group’s meetings are closed to the public, so it is unclear why the book was reclassified as fiction. Details about the reconsideration committee, including its members, are not available on the county and library system websites."
ANDREW ATTERBURY , Politico; Florida joins conservative states severing ties with national library group
"Florida is among the latest conservative-leaning states to sever connections with the nation’s oldest library organization after the nonprofit became embroiled in the ongoing culture war over what books should be available to students.
The agency in charge of Florida’s public libraries issued a new rule in October forbidding any grant activities tied to the American Library Association, a 150-year-old organization that aids thousands of libraries across the country with training and funding.
The move by the DeSantis administration puts Florida in line with a cadre of Republican states and lawmakers leveling scrutiny on ALA, labeling the group as “toxic” and a “conduit” for exposing children to pornography — claims refuted by the organization and its supporters.
Conservatives in a growing number of states, including Alabama, Wyoming, Missouri, Texas and now Florida, have severed affiliations with the ALA, in part over the group choosing a new president, Emily Drabinski, who in 2022 tweeted that she’s a “Marxist.”...
How the rule will affect local libraries is currently unclear. Libraries pay for ALA memberships that grant access to benefits such as discounts on professional development and education products."
JEREMY SCHWARTZ, THE TEXAS TRIBUNE AND PROPUBLICA ; Book bans in Texas spread as new state law takes effect
"The local censorship efforts come as courts wrestle with a new Texas law that requires booksellers to rate public school library books based on their depictions of or references to sex. Books in which such references are deemed “patently offensive” by the vendors will be issued a “sexually explicit” rating and can’t be sold to schools and must be removed from shelves of school libraries. Books that reference or depict sex generally will be rated “sexually relevant” and require parental permission to read.
Texas schools would be barred from buying books from vendors who don’t use the ratings.
On Sept. 18, a U.S. district judge in Austin issued a written order blocking the law, which was passed this spring, from taking effect. Judge Alan D. Albright, a Trump appointee, ruled the law would impose “unconstitutionally vague requirements” on booksellers and “misses the mark on obscenity.”
“And the state,” he wrote, “in abdicating its responsibility to protect children, forces private individuals and corporations into compliance with an unconstitutional law that violates the First Amendment.”
A week later, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the judge’s ruling, temporarily allowing the law to go into effect while the court considers the case, which it is expected to take up this month."
Briana Conner, ABC13; 'Banned Wagon' rolls into Houston-area libraries for banned book week
"Harris County Public Libraries started the month of October by announcing a book sanctuary for banned books.
A book sanctuary combats censorship and protects the right to read. The library system says more than 600 of the banned titles are in circulation at their libraries.
According to the American Library Association, libraries in Texas have banned more books than any other state."
"2. Lindke v. Freed, O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier (Oct. 31)
There are several cases on the court’s docket this term that will tackle the future of online speech. The first two — Lindke v. Freed and O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier — will seek to answer whether the First Amendment prohibits public officials from blocking constituents.
The high court will also debate the constitutionality of laws passed in Texas and Florida that regulate the tech industry’s content-moderation policies. They are Moody v. NetChoice, LLC and NetChoice, LLC v. Paxton. Conservatives argue that social media platforms are censoring their viewpoints, while the companies argue that the new laws violate their First Amendment right to choose what to publish on their platforms."
Sheena Goodyear, CBC; Illustrator stands by graphic novel of Anne Frank's diary that got Texas teacher fired
"When Anne Frank Fonds, the foundation that holds the copyright to Frank's diary, first commissioned the graphic novel adaptation, Polonsky says he and writer Ari Folman believed it was important to include the previously censored materials.
"We accepted this challenge because we felt it was important to keep this story alive, and also to portray Anne as a full human being," he said. "She's not a mascot for the Holocaust. She's not a symbol. We think it's important to represent her as a complicated young writer."
In illustrating those more sensitive pages, Polonsky says he took great care to make sure nothing was too explicit for young readers."
Zachery Lashway, Click2Houston; Houston’s ‘Little Banned Library’ highlights literature as Texas leads country in number of books banned
"House Bill 900 goes into effect on Sept. 1. This law regulates and establishes new standards for reading material at public school libraries. Book vendors will assign ratings to books based on sexual references. Depending on the level of the rating, a child might need parental consent to check out the book, or the book could be banned and removed from the bookshelves.
Kasey Meehan is PEN America Freedom to Read Program Director.
“An effort to really suppress free speech,” Meehan said.
PEN America is a national non-profit organization that defends and celebrates free expression through literature.
“So, one of the, you know, pieces of rhetoric that we’re constantly pushing up against this idea that there’s obscene material in schools or pornography in schools, and by no definition of those terms is that the case. These books are intended to be in schools.” Meehan said. “Sometimes it can be individuals in the district, in the school district, or in the community that are challenging books. And increasingly, though, we also see the role of legislation influencing what books are available.”
Dr. John Coppedge , Longview News-Journal; Coppedge: Do ethics and a moral compass matter?
[Kip Currier: The Mont Blanc pen part of this article is a jaw-dropping example of ethical decision-making in the moment. (A good defense lawyer could, I suppose, assert that the accused pen purloiner absent-mindedly picked up the pen or mistakenly thought it was his...but this is still a thought-provoking ethics example.)
American philosopher Aldo Leopold famously opined that "ethical behavior is doing the right thing when no one else is watching -- even when doing the wrong thing is legal."
In this instance, someone was watching: albeit a surveillance camera.]
"If you came upon an expensive fountain pen someone left on a security tray at your local courthouse, you would be confronted by an ethical dilemma. Would you have a duty to turn it in? Or would you pocket the pen for your personal use?
That was the ethical question confronting then state Sen. Ken Paxton (the recently impeached Texas attorney general) at the Collin County Courthouse. The item in question was a Mont Blanc pen. He chose to keep it.
Backing up a bit, the person to whom the pen belonged was local attorney Joe Joplin. The pen had been a gift from his wife.
Mont Blanc pens are a status symbol, prized by many. On the Mont Blanc website, they are advertised for between $380 and $168,000, with the average price approaching $1,000. It is inconceivable to this author that someone could pick up any Mont Blanc pen and not realize it is something special, desirable and valuable.
Immediately after his hearing, Joplin, who inadvertently left the pen at the security checkpoint, rushed back to inquire if it was still there. It was gone.
Joplin then contacted Collin County Sheriff Terry Box and asked him to look at the security video recording. He did and recognized that the person coming through the security portal after Joplin and taking the pen was Ken Paxton.
Sheriff Box had one of his deputies call Paxton saying that he was seen on security video taking the pen. Paxton admitted he had taken it. Res ipso loquitur*.
People can decide for themselves about Ken Paxton’s ethics and moral compass, or lack thereof...
Carl Sandburg is quoted as saying: “If the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the law and the facts are against you, pound the table and yell like hell."...
* "Res ipso loquitur" is a Latin term meaning the thing speaks for itself."
BROOKE PARK, The Texas Tribune; Texas librarians face harassment as they navigate book bans
"Baker’s experience represents one of many new conflicts facing Texas librarians as book challenges continue to multiply. Many feel left out of decisions on banning books while also facing increased scrutiny from politicians, parents, and county and school district staff. Some have already quit, and others are considering it."
Alex Horton, The Washington Post; Hundreds of helpless cold-stunned sea turtles rescued by Navy pilots and pickup trucks
"“Most of these people didn’t have good conditions in their own homes,” he said. “But they came out to help.”
The hardships of the extreme weather, coupled with the pressure of the coronavirus pandemic, compelled the volunteers to do something tangible and positive amid the bleakness, Bellamy said.
“Things have been rough over the past year. It’s fun to see people come together focused on recovering these turtles. People just need it.”"
