Letter to Tom Wolf, Governor of Pennsylvania - Guidelines for Pennsylvania School Library Programs

Letter

Dear Governor Wolf and Acting Secretary Hagarty:

We write to you today to relay the concerns of various Pennsylvania educators, state officials, and most importantly parents regarding radical indoctrination of students in the classroom. Many have understandably reached out to our offices to express outrage over material currently being carried in school libraries that we know is unfit for school aged children. Yet this material remains widely available in many school districts across our Commonwealth. For example, many of these concerns have come from the book "Gender Queer: A Memoir" by Maia Kobabe, which includes concerning and graphic material and raises questions as to the relevancy this material plays in the elementary and secondary education environment.

Pennsylvania schools need to be places where students feel safe and comfortable learning the important academic lessons that will set them up for a successful career and equip them with the tools they need to succeed in life. We need to do everything we can to be a partner to local communities as they work to educate every student and give them the chance to pursue their passion while in school.

While individual school boards along with school administrators and parent-teacher associations have the authority to add or remove material from libraries, we request that your Administration and the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) take action to investigate instances of explicit material being circulated and decide if further oversight is needed. Students are already facing an unprecedented amount of learning loss caused by school closures during the COVID-19 emergency period, so we need to be doing everything in our power to help students make the most out of learning opportunities inside the classroom now that the threat of infection has substantially decreased.

As a report issued by the Pennsylvania Office of Commonwealth Libraries indicated, "research studies provide strong evidence that academic achievement is significantly higher where a strong library program exists." We wholeheartedly agree with this and many of the other resources included in the report, which focus on helping students succeed in the classroom and enhancing their academic experience. We fail to understand how the aforementioned graphic material contained in books like "Gender Queer" falls into any of the categories contained in this report.

We therefore request answers to the following questions:
- What processes are currently in place to review school library material?
- How do school boards, schools, and librarians engage with parents to determine age and academically appropriate content?
- What have the PDE and the Administration done to ensure the focus remains on academic outcomes and student success?
- Has there been any investigation into this matter? Please report back regarding how any of the inappropriate material being supplied to Pennsylvania schools fits into regular school curriculum, enhances student leaning or improves educational outcomes.

We are standing by to assist should you need any additional information. Thank you for your prompt attention to this request.