During the last year, Mary Ellen Cuzela 鈥� concerned about students being indoctrinated about sex and 鈥渃ritical race theory鈥� 鈥� successfully petitioned her suburban Houston school district of about 83,000 to remove two books from their libraries: The novel 鈥淟awn Boy鈥� by Jonathan Evison and the graphic novel 鈥淟osing the Girl鈥� by MariNaomi.
Cuzela, a mother of three who works for the district as a substitute teacher, said she was encouraged by Republican Texas lawmakers鈥� focus on critical race theory, an academic framework for examining systemic racism 鈥� which is not taught in any U.S. public school 鈥� that she considers 鈥淢arxist ideology鈥� and 鈥渁nti-American.鈥� She has a list of more than a dozen more books she wants removed from schools along Houston鈥檚 rapidly growing and diversifying Energy Corridor, home to some of the world鈥檚 major oil and gas companies.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to ban books. I don鈥檛 want to be a book burner. My goodness, no,鈥� said Cuzela, 49, whose children have attended public school for years in Katy. 鈥淚鈥檓 not into censoring. That is not what this is about. We filter students鈥� internet access. We have keywords, trigger words, that we know people shouldn鈥檛 have access to as a minor. So why isn鈥檛 that same process in the school libraries?鈥�
One of the books, 鈥淟awn Boy,鈥� refers to oral sex between boys, and the other, 鈥淟osing the Girl,鈥� features LGBTQ characters.
Liberal parents have also pushed to remove books from schools in recent years: the classics 鈥淭o Kill a Mockingbird鈥� and 鈥淥f Mice and Men鈥� after parents complained their depictions of race and racism were harmful to students (they were among the top banned books nationwide last year).
But the latest uproar over school libraries comes as conservatives attempt to ride a wave of 鈥渨hite backlash鈥� among Trump supporters to victory in next year鈥檚 midterm election. The strategy appeared to work in the closely watched Virginia governor鈥檚 race Tuesday, where Republican newcomer Glenn Youngkin beat former Democrat Gov. Terry McAuliffe .
Cuzela has followed the Virginia debate, adding books banned there to her list. Nationwide, lawmakers have banned critical race theory from public schools in Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
Book debates are fueled by social media posts and YouTube video of parents complaining at school board meetings from politically transitioning suburbs like Katy, a viral 鈥渨ar on books,鈥� according to Richard Price, political science professor at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. Price, who identifies as nonbinary, is the , which includes and another book often challenged recently, 鈥� by
While school boards in Ramona and Paso Robles have banned so-called critical race theory, Price said book challenges are not as common in California as they are in red states, where viral posts spread faster as they鈥檙e picked up by right-wing bloggers and media.
鈥溾�楲awn Boy鈥� is a book no one heard about until a mom showed up and ranted about it at one of the Texas districts, and video of her rant circulated on YouTube. 鈥楪ender Queer鈥� is circulating the same way,鈥� Price said ( in the Austin suburb of Leander has been viewed more than 19,000 times and spawned similar complaints in Virginia).
Price said challengers鈥� objections are often Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ issues, but 鈥渢hey dress it up as ideology.鈥�
After Texas lawmakers battles grew particularly heated in the conservative suburbs surrounding the state鈥檚 largest, liberal cities. Parents and groups who have spent decades fighting at the state board of education over textbook content shifted their focus to school districts, prompting petitions, protests and testy exchanges at school board meetings.
In the Dallas suburb of Southlake, the school board voted to reprimand a fourth-grade teacher earlier this year for keeping an anti-racism book in her classroom after parents complained. Last month, leaked audio of an administrator in the district instructing teachers to present 鈥渙pposing鈥� views of books about the Holocaust sparked national outrage. In another Dallas suburb, a group of conservative activists, Respect Midlothian 1888, decried teachings they said support critical race theory and called for the district diversity officer鈥檚 removal.
In the Fort Worth suburb of Keller, school officials removed 鈥淕ender Queer: A Memoir鈥� from a high school library 鈥減ending investigation鈥� after parents complained it contained graphic images.
In the Houston suburbs, school officials at Spring Branch district removed 鈥淭he Breakaways,鈥� by Cathy Johnson, a graphic novel featuring a transgender character, after parents in the Spring Branch district petitioned and complained it was sexually explicit and contained 鈥減olitical propaganda.鈥�
On Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott 鈥� running for reelection against two conservative primary challengers 鈥� to the Texas Assn. of School Boards and several state agencies demanding they investigate 鈥減ornographic鈥� books that parents had complained about at public schools, despite the agencies鈥� lack of authority.
鈥淭hese parents are rightfully angry,鈥� Abbott wrote. "鈥� Your organization鈥檚 members have an obligation to determine the extent to which such materials exist or are used in our schools and to remove any such content.鈥�
Abbott didn鈥檛 specify which books parents had complained about, and his spokeswoman didn鈥檛 respond to a request for comment.
The week before, state Rep. Jeff Cason from the Dallas suburbs called for Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton 鈥� a fellow Republican facing primary challenges in the upcoming election 鈥� to investigate 鈥渢he legal ramifications to school districts鈥� of approving books that may 鈥渧iolate the penal code in relation to pornography.鈥�
鈥淲e as a state must protect minors from this type of criminal activity, and it should not be made available to children by the actual people that are tasked in educating them,鈥� Cason wrote.
Republican Rep. Matt Krause of Fort Worth, among those running against Paxton, in his capacity as chair of an investigative legislative committee to several of the state鈥檚 largest school districts requesting they review that he claimed potentially failed to comply with the new ban on critical race theory. In the Oct. 25 letter, Krause noted that several districts had recently removed books in response to complaints from 鈥渟tudents, parents and taxpayers鈥� including Katy, Southlake, Spring Branch, Lake Travis and Leander.
In addition to the list, Krause asked districts to identify any of their books that were about 鈥渉uman sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases, or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), sexually explicit images, graphic presentations of sexual behavior that is in violation of the law or contain material that might make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex or convey that a student, by virtue of their race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.鈥�
Krause didn鈥檛 respond to requests for comment. But he told Dallas radio host Mark Davis that after lawmakers banned critical race theory, his inquiry 鈥渃ould be a big benefit for those school districts who are going through the inventory to say, 鈥楬ey, do we have something that could be in violation or do we not?鈥欌��
His list of questionable books included 鈥淕ender Queer,鈥� 鈥淟awn Boy,鈥� 鈥淣ew Kid,鈥� 鈥淭he Breakaways鈥� and 鈥淥ut of Darkness,鈥� by former Texas public school teacher Ashley Hope P茅rez.
P茅rez, now an assistant professor at the Ohio State University, said that as a survivor of sexual abuse, it was important to her to make her main character a survivor as well, and that the graphic passages to which critics object were part of that. She has received threats after a in Lake Travis went viral ( Jimmy Kimmel cited it, leading P茅rez to ) and it鈥檚 been challenged in Missouri, Texas and Virginia.
鈥淩epublicans think they have found a winning issue in this, to the detriment of learners. And Democrats haven鈥檛 found a message to respond to that,鈥� said P茅rez, who is white and has two sons who are Mexican American, ages 11 and 6. 鈥淭hese challenges are rooted in a broader effort to undermine public education and the establishment of a more diverse and inclusive society. The message these parents are sending is, 鈥業 wish these people didn鈥檛 exist, and because I can鈥檛 get rid of the people, I want to get rid of the books.鈥� 鈥�
P茅rez and Price tweeted about books on Krause鈥檚 list Thursday with the hashtags #txlege and #FReadom.
鈥淥ne of the reasons I defend access so heavily is because I am ridiculously happy that kids have access to these book today,鈥� they said. 鈥淲hereas some want to claim it鈥檚 pornography, I see it as a lifeline.鈥�
Price, who has been monitoring book challenges since 2018, said there鈥檚 anecdotal evidence that schools have become more willing to capitulate, removing 鈥淕ender Queer鈥� from schools, sometimes without the required review.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e trying to appease the groups challenging these books. Usually, that doesn鈥檛 work. Once you start removing books, they come back for more.鈥�
Krause gave districts until Nov. 12 to respond. He has yet to disclose which districts he sent the letter to, or the criteria he used to select the 850 books he asked them to scrutinize.
Cuzela, the Katy teacher, said she was encouraged to see Texas lawmakers backing her and other conservative parents. On Monday, she emailed her local school board and superintendent to ask how they plan to respond.
鈥淚 keep pressing them that we need to have a library audit,鈥� Cuzela said. 鈥淚 love that Krause is making it official, and hopefully this will put pressure on them.鈥�
Cuzela has already challenged another book in Katy schools, 鈥淢e and Earl and the Dying Girl鈥� by Jesse Andrews, and is preparing additional challenges.
鈥淢y plan of action is to continue down the list. I still have my working list, not quite the list Krause had,鈥� she said.
Katy Independent School District was still reviewing Krause鈥檚 letter last week, according to spokeswoman Laura Davis.
Krause鈥檚 list and letter were condemned by the Texas House Democratic Caucus, Texas House LGBTQ Caucus, and Texas Legislative Black Caucus. State Rep. Chris Turner, chair of the Democratic Caucus, called it a 鈥渇ishing expedition.鈥� Rep. Nicole Collier, an attorney from Fort Worth who chairs the Legislature鈥檚 Black Caucus, called it 鈥渁 witch hunt.鈥�
Dallas Democrat , vice chair of Krause鈥檚 legislative committee, dismissed the letter as 鈥測et another attempt by Republicans to censor the voices of people of color.鈥�
Neave said she spoke with Krause and requested a copy of the letter and a list of the districts he contacted. She said that he had yet to respond, and that she saw the letter as a dangerous campaign ploy.
鈥淚t鈥檚 this coordinated strategy by the Republicans to erase our history,鈥� said Neave, who is Latina, noting that the majority of Texas students, and Texans, are minorities, while the state Legislature is overwhelmingly white and male.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e trying to police what books they read. It鈥檚 an overreach into our classrooms. Our schools should be focusing on educating our kids, not on wasting taxpayer dollars on researching books for one person鈥檚 political gain.鈥�
Ovidia Molina, president of the Texas State Teachers Assn., which has 40,000 members in 1,200 districts statewide, said the law banning critical race theory and Krause鈥檚 letter had a chilling effect on teachers.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e uncertain as to what they are allowed to do and not get in trouble,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 know what will get you in trouble until you get in trouble and we have to defend you. That鈥檚 no way for educators to live.鈥�
Molina said she was pleased to see some districts 鈥渟tand up and not be bullied by our state,鈥� but that as a Salvadoran American former English as a Second Language teacher, she worried about the impact on Latino students. She noted that many of the books on Krause鈥檚 list were both about and written by minorities.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e not just attacking the content, but also people of color,鈥� she said.
Molina said the battle over school library books might also drive Texas teachers to other states, which already pay better. Texas pays teachers an average $57,600, which is below the national average of $65,000, according to the National Education Assn. annual survey.
The state鈥檚 largest school districts confirmed they had received the letter, as well as suburbs such as Garland and Mesquite.
Houston, the largest district in the state and seventh-largest in the nation with nearly 200,000 students, received the letter, but officials had no comment about how they planned to respond, spokesman Luis Morales said.
Keller schools planned to treat Krause鈥檚 letter as they would any public information request, a spokesman said.
Some of the state鈥檚 other large districts 鈥� including Austin, Dallas and Fort Worth 鈥� refused to comply with Krause鈥檚 inquiry, spokesmen said. They said that their library catalogs were publicly searchable and that they already meet state curriculum standards for book selection. Some of the same districts defied the Texas governor鈥檚 attempts earlier this year to ban COVID -19 mask mandates.
鈥淲e follow all state-approved processes for selecting new textbooks for our students. We select from state-approved lists, organize a committee of experienced educators to review options, provide an input process for the public, and then make a final selection,鈥� Fort Worth Supt. Kent Scribner said in a statement. "鈥� We have a process for parents to request a review of any title found in their campus library that may present a concern.鈥�
Katy schools have a similar complaint system that parent Bonnie Anderson used earlier this year after her 8-year-old twins brought home a flier about a school event featuring what she called critical race theory, a virtual event with Jerry Craft, author of 鈥淣ew Kid.鈥�
Anderson, 43, organized opposition through text and Telegram groups, including Cuzela. After more than 400 people petitioned, the book was temporarily removed from school libraries, and the book event rescheduled.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 ban books 鈥� that鈥檚 not my thing,鈥� Anderson said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 just so much great literature out there, I just don鈥檛 understand why these books have to be there. When I send my kids to school, I want them learning reading, writing and math and not becoming indoctrinated, and it seems that鈥檚 so hard now.鈥�
Anderson said she was encouraged by the state law banning critical race theory, but that it was up to parents to hold teachers and schools accountable.
鈥淭eachers are still going to teach what they want and every once in a while they鈥檒l get caught,鈥� she said, but the law 鈥渉elps hopefully prevent this type of teaching by teachers who want to bring division into the classroom.鈥�
