In the News

When Moms for Liberty rented office space in a Melbourne, Florida, strip mall to use as its headquarters last year, it kept the name of the previous tenant's business on its signage to hide its true identity, explains Tina Descovich, co-founder of the conservative group that says it fights for parental rights in schools. "It sounds funny, but it's for our own safety," says Descovich.

The Williamson County Schools Board of Education voted in favor of closing of Discovery K-8, one of its two virtual schools, for the upcoming year.

The district announced its intent to close the school earlier this month, citing low interest at the end of the enrollment period.

The Williamson County Schools Board of Education voted to deny Founders Classical Academy's application to operate within the county.

The applicant, Founders Classical Academy, was one of two charter school operators that applied in Williamson County. The other applicant, USA Classical Academy, withdrew its application in March.

At the board's April 14 work session, assistant superintendent of secondary schools Leigh Webb presented the findings of the charter school review committee.

The Williamson County Schools' board of education voted to deny Founders Classical Academy's application to operate within the county.

The applicant, Founders Classical Academy, was one of two charter school operators that applied for operation in Williamson County. The other applicant, USA Classical Academy, withdrew its application in March.

Students in one Pennsylvania school district are not allowed to read a biography of the first Black President, Barack Obama.
In some Tennessee classrooms, a nonfiction comic book about the atrocities of the Holocaust is banned.

The Williamson County Schools Board of Education and WCS Superintendent Jason Golden discussed the district administration’s decision to temporarily remove the digital library app Epic! from student computers last week at a work session Thursday.

Just as Americans tend to hate Congress but like their own member of Congress, it has long been true that people are much happier about their own children’s schools than about the country’s education system. For instance, a Gallup poll last year found only 42 percent of parents saying they were satisfied with the country’s schools, while 73 percent of them said they were satisfied with the education their own children were getting.

Remember when then-House Speaker Glen Casada “enticed” members to vote for Gov. Bill Lee’s school voucher scheme? Remember how the FBI was (and still is) interested in Casada and others for possible bribes in order to pass the bill by a single vote?

Williamson County Schools has announced access to the Epic! digital library app will return Thursday.

The move would come just a week after the temporary removal of the app in response to concerns shared with the district surrounding a selection of books, including the "An ABC of Equality," found among over 40,000 books available on the app.

The American right has lost the plot on free speech. The passage of Florida’s House Bill 1557, which bans “classroom instruction” on “sexual orientation and gender identity” in kindergarten through third grade and in a manner that isn’t “age appropriate or developmentally appropriate” in all grades, K–12, is merely the latest in a string of what the free-speech-advocacy organization PEN America has called “education gag orders” that have been proposed by Republicans and passed by red-state legislatures from coast to coast.

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WTVF) — It's a controversy both here in Tennessee and across the country -- the books inside school libraries.

As Governor Lee has signed a bill into law requiring schools to ensure their books are all age-appropriate, Williamson County Schools said this week it has temporarily removed a digital library app that gives students access to thousands of books. Williamson County Schools said it is reviewing the app, called Epic! to make sure its internet filters are appropriately screening content. The district says so far, it hasn't found any content that should be blocked for all students.

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(WASHINGTON)– Today, new outlets report that the Williamson County, Tennessee, school district removed access to the digital library app Epic! for all K-5 families after a parental complaint about the book An ABC of Equality, which is designed for 1-4 year olds. In response, PEN America issued the following comment from Nadine Farid Johnson, PEN America’s Washington director and co-author of its new report Banned in the USA, issued this week: “This immediate and full-scale suspension of access to a system of library books by a school board is emblematic of the precise issue we highlight in our report. This is an online library system to which parents subscribe, and upon which parents, teachers, and students rely. Suspending access to 40,000 books without adherence to appropriate process, and with utter disregard for the First Amendment rights of the tens of thousands of students impacted, is a dereliction of duty on the part of the school board. Unfortunately, it not only sets a worrisome precedent; it also undermines the very education this school board is responsible for ensuring.”