scaaaary...

Maybe the students don't care?

US STUDENTS SAY PRESS FREEDOMS GO TOO FAR
One in three U.S. high school students say the press ought to be more
restricted, and even more say the government should approve newspaper
stories before readers see them, according to a survey to be released today
by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The survey “confirms what a
lot of people who are interested in this area have known for a long time,”
he says: Kids aren't learning enough about the First Amendment in history,
civics or English classes. It also tracks closely with recent findings of
adults' attitudes.
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Greg Toppo]
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20050131/bl_bottomstrip31.art0.htm

It's a local decision to pull books

Anyone wishing to challenge a book on the school's shelves is required to file a "Request for Reconsideration of Materials." You can find a copy on the education website (look under the policies Appendix H).

In addition to the document to be filled out by the challenger, there are several forms to be filled out by the review committee. Each form includes open-ended questions that should provide interestning insight into the challenges and decisions made.

Although the state provides a sample policy, individual school districts are free to adopt their own (though, luckily the form keeps the same name, which will help when we request it). For exampe, see the Lindbergh School District's Policy. Their form has even more detailed questions than the state.

What's going on in Johnson County Kansas

In the Blue Valley School district, a group of parents have put together a whole program used to ban books. It looks like their motives are entirely religious in nature ... check out this very complex Web site they created to lobby the school district in Kansas.

http://www.classkc.org/

There are also countless articles in the KC Star and other local newspapers for Overland Park about this group and the petitions they have put forward to the board.

I'm in!

OK, Davis here....

Blogging, eh? Works for me. This will be a great way to exchange ideas!

Welcome

So this is our website. It's incredibly simple, but was free and easy to setup.