Trouble in Censorville: The Far Right’s Assault on Public Education and the Teachers Who Are Fighting Back

Kalin (art education, Univ. of North Texas; The Neoliberalization of Creativity Education) and Modrak (art and design, Univ. of Michigan; Radical Humility) highlight the growing challenges to intellectual freedom in public schools. They provide a succinct timeline of major censorship events in education. Their book gives readers first-person accounts from 14 individuals. Several are award-winning educators whose professional and personal reputations came under fire when they were attacked by far-right groups for addressing topics like race and gender. A couple of themes emerge from their stories: people behind the challenges often do not have children in the districts they target, and organized groups often spread unfounded rumors that the targeted educators are pedophiles or pornographers. As a result, qualified educators are either forced to leave the profession or transferred to positions outside their field of expertise. This book offers limited suggestions for combatting censorship; many readers will likely want more how-to details about preparing for and defending against such attacks. Surprisingly, ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom and its Intellectual Freedom Manual are not discussed.