Texas Governor Greg Abbott today sent a letter directing Texas Education Agency (TEA) Commissioner Mike Morath, Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) Chair Martha Wong, and Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) Chair Keven Ellis to immediately develop statewide standards to ensure no child is exposed to pornography or other inappropriate content in a Texas public school. This comes after the Texas Association of School Boards abdicated responsibility of school boards in protecting children from being exposed to pornography or other inappropriate content in a Texas public school.
“Instead of addressing the concerns of parents and shielding Texas children from pornography in public schools, the Texas Association of School Boards has attempted to wash its hands clean of the issue by abdicating any and all responsibility in the matter,” reads the letter. “Given this negligence, the State of Texas now calls on you to do what the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB)refuses to do. I am directing the Texas Education Agency, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, and the State Board of Education to immediately develop statewide standards to prevent the presence of pornography and other obscene content in Texas public schools, including in school libraries.”
This letter TEA , TSLAC,& SBOE stems from another letter that was sent to TASB that also stemmed from an issue at Keller ISD. The political backlash when trying to remove a book from one of KISD’s high school libraries called, “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe. According to Goodreads summary of the book it highlights the uses pronouns, journey of self-identity, “which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fan-fiction, and facing the trauma of pap smears.” It also includes ways explain to the family what it means to be non-binary and asexual and basic gender identity. Plus, at one point, it includes an illustrations of sexual content.
This book and another one called “In the Dream House” by Carmen Maria Machado, which has been removed already from a Leander ISD library. According to one of its high school libraries after some parents raised concerns over the books’s graphic images. In Vox’s summary of this book they explain, “In the Dream House is a memoir of Machado’s abusive relationship with an ex-girlfriend. Over the course of the memoir, Machado meets her girlfriend — referred to only as “the woman in the Dream House” — and finds herself rapidly infatuated, wooed, love bombed. And then, eventually, the abuse starts.”
After Gov. Abbott wrote TASB, they responded to him with a letter explaining why they are not going to hold each school board accountable. Stating in their letter, “
As such, we felt it was critically important to respond to your letter to clarify the work we do here
at TASB, clarify the primary responsibilities of school boards, and respectfully note that regulatory
agencies like the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and State Board of Education (SBOE) are more
appropriate venues for the type of monitoring that you ask for in your letter.
First, based on the requests outlined in your letter, we want to make clear that TASB has no
regulatory authority over school districts and does not set the standards for instructional materials,
including library books. Rather, we are a private, non-profit membership organization focused on
supporting school governance and providing cost-effective services to school districts.gov.texas.gov
Second, as we work to support school boards across our great State, we always align our work
to the Texas Framework for School Board Development as outlined on the TEA website. This
framework, which was developed through a collaborative process led by the SBOE, was approved
unanimously by the SBOE on November 20, 2020. Nowhere in the Framework’s bulleted list of
44 areas of focus for school boards is there a responsibility cited for the review of library books
and/or other instructional materials.
Here is what Gov. Abbott’s letter said in response to TASB.
Dear Commissioner Morath, Chair Wong, and Chairman Ellis:
As you are aware, a growing number of parents of Texas students are rightfully outraged about
highly inappropriate books and other content in public school libraries. The most disturbing
cases include material that is clearly pornographic, which has absolutely no place in the Texas
public education system.
For example, Keller Independent School District was recently compelled to remove a book from
a school library titled Gender Queer: a Memoir by Maia Kobabe after complaints of the book’s
pornographic drawings.
Additionally, Leander Independent School District recently removed several books from
classrooms because of inappropriate content. This included a book titled In the Dream House by
Carmen Maria Machado, which describes overtly sexual and pornographic acts.
Not only is the presence of pornography in schools inappropriate, it is also against the law. In
Texas, it is illegal to provide pornography to anyone under the age of 18.In a letter last week, I raised concerns about this material with the Texas Association of School
Boards and encouraged the Association to work with its members to remove pornographic and
inappropriate content from Texas public schools. As the only entity in Texas that represents
every local school board in Texas, the Texas Association of School Boards has an obligation to
hold its members accountable and ensure that school districts are adopting the best practices
when it comes to vetting the content schools are making available to students.
Instead of addressing the concerns of parents and shielding Texas children from pornography in
public schools, the Texas Association of School Boards has attempted to wash its hands clean of
the issue by abdicating any and all responsibility in the matter.
Given this negligence, the State of Texas now calls on you to do what the Texas Association of
School Boards refuses to do.
I am directing the Texas Education Agency, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission,
and the State Board of Education to immediately develop statewide standards to prevent the
presence of pornography and other obscene content in Texas public schools, including in school
libraries.
These standards must ensure transparency about the materials being taught in the classroom and
offered in school libraries. They must also ensure that our schools have an appropriate and
transparent process, which includes parents and community members, to vet school and library
materials before they are used. Additionally, parents should be informed of the formal grievance
process, in the event an inappropriate book is identified.
Your action should ensure that no Texas child is exposed to pornography or obscene content
while in a Texas public school.gov.texas.gov
Sincerely,
Greg Abbott
