STOP PISD'S BOOK BANS AND CENSORSHIP!!!

Overnight, Plano ISD's school board and Superintendent Theresa Williams overturned 98% of the internal reviews that were done by a panel of PISD librarians, English and Literature teachers, and other staff. Why? Paid agitators, mostly from Citizens Defending Freedom, who have worked to ban hundreds of books from several school districts across the country, have gone to school board meetings to make sure that books discussing racism, sexism, queer media or history, and more are banned. Most of the members of Citizens Defending Freedom don't even have kids that attend PISD schools. 

Read "Homegoing" by Yaa Gyasi for American Studies? It's now banned. Read "The Handmaid's Tale" for AP Literature? Banned. "Half of a Yellow Sun"? Banned from PISD libraries and classrooms. 

Today, November 8, the official district policy changed to now use booklook.org, which is run by Moms for Liberty (another group of paid agitators) to decide whether certain books will be kept or pulled from the shelves of our schools, regardless of grade level. This list doesn't even take the entire book into consideration; it only uses excerpts to make a decision. Some books on this list include "Beloved" by Toni Morrison, "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green, "Queerfully & Wonderfully Made" by Leigh Finke, and "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" by Gregory McGuire (yes, the book that inspired the musical), and much, much more.

These books are banned under the guise of "sexually explicit content" or as being "inappropriate" (some of them, even for "witchcraft"), however many of these discuss important topics that students themselves experience, such as racism, xenophobia, homophobia and queer history, and other forms of prejudice. In addition, booklook.org uses "gender ideology" as one of the things they look for in deeming a book as "inappropriate", targeting transgender, queer, and feminist authors across the country. Many of these books contain topics or characters that students can relate to and can find a connection with as they experience their own personal struggles, as well. 

PISD teachers and staff can't even speak out publicly against these bans and in the support of students without fearing that they would be fired or punished by their administrators or the district. Even making this petition is a risk. Free speech is apparently no longer permitted at PISD, as we are being censored constantly, even in our education. What does this say about our school district, our administration, and our Superintendent? They are destroying the education of our students. 

From what I have heard, this is just the beginning. It will only get worse from here. We will only be more censored as time goes on, and the education of our youth is at stake. 

SIGN THIS PETITION NOW TO TAKE A STAND AGAINST PISD BOOK BANS!!!!