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Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District No. 26 v. Pico. Oyez.
Retreived November 15, 2017, from http://www.oyez.org/cases/1981/80-
2043
Facts:
This case explores whether or not the First Amendment of the Constitution
places limits on members of a local school board in regards to their
discretion to remove certain books from the schools library based on
subjective moral or political dissonance.
Conclusion:
Although I agree with the courts decision, the ruling is narrow. The
majority of the Supreme Court held that a students right to receive
available information could not be suppressed by school officials who
might disagree morally or politically. However, the court also noted that if
the information was not already available (i.e. if the books were not
already in the library or classrooms), then students would not be deprived
of any particular rights or suppressed of any information.
Although this currently does not affect me as I teach kindergarten, if I
were to teach in an upper grade, I would want to be able to use any
books at my disposal to teach and enrich my students.
Because the decision is so subjective, I am concerned that books
discussing diversity could potentially be banned if the Supreme Court
were to rule in favor of the plaintiffs.
School board members do have a vested interest in the moral
foundations of their students and the curriculum in which they are
subjected to. However, The First Amendment far transcends any power
held by a local school board.