School district fights back against book-banning Republican accusing them of giving porn to kids

Oklahoma’s superintendent of public schools Ryan Walters
Photo: WPDE-TV screenshot

A school district in Oklahoma is asking courts to defend its choice of books in its high school libraries in the wake of a crusade against “pornography” led by Oklahoma’s Republican State Superintendent Ryan Walters.

At issue are two books – The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls – both of which contain descriptions of sexual assault. The books do not contain pornography because the scenes are not intended to arouse the reader.

“Edmond Public Schools is leading the charge to put pornography back in schools,” Walters posted to social media, referring to the school district that has the two books available for high school students. “Today we see Edmond Public Schools is fighting to keep pornography on their shelves and are challenging our rule to keep pornography out of the classroom.”

The Oklahoma State Department of Education, which Walters heads, ordered Edmond Public Schools to remove the two books earlier this year after a committee at the agency decided that the books are “pornographic” and contain “sexualized content.” The agency threatened to…

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