Mitchell Robinson is a professor of music education at Michigan State University who was recently elected to the Michigan State Board of Education. He shared a resolution that he introduced and that was passed by the State Board. Are there books that are not age-appropriate? Yes. Can we trust teachers and librarians to select the right books for the children in their care? The Michigan State Board of Education thinks we can. Michigan law already forbids pornography in schools.
Robinson sent the following to me:
Proud to introduce the “Freedom to Read” resolution yesterday. The State Board of Education respects the professional judgement of teachers and librarians when it comes to selecting learning materials that support the curriculum in their classrooms, and respects the rights of parents and caregivers to determine the developmental appropriateness of books and other materials for their children.
Teachers and parents are natural partners in the education of our children, and attempts to drive a wedge between schools and families by creating outrage over fabricated “crises” will simply not work.
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“Board Of Ed Adopts Resolution Supporting ‘Freedom To Read'”
A resolution to support K-12 students reading whichever books they like as book bans continue to sweep the country was adopted by the State Board of Education Tuesday.
Board member Mitchell Robinson (D-Okemos) introduced the Freedom to Read Resolution. Robinson cited in the resolution that PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans listed 1,477 instances of individual books banned.
The resolution said in the first six months of 2023, 30 percent of the unique titles banned were books about race, racism, or feature characters of color and 26 percent of the unique titles banned had LGBTQ characters or themes.
On Monday, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a law that deems Illinois public libraries ineligible for state funding if the library restricts or bans materials because of “partisan or doctrinal disapproval.”
“Closer to home, the Michigan Civil Rights Commission has asked the Attorney General for an official legal ruling on book banning as discrimination in respect to the Elliott Larsen Civil Rights Act that has expanded to include…LGBTQ+ communities,” Robinson said.
During public comment, several parents and organizations, including Moms for Liberty, spoke out against the resolution. They argued that none of their members were in favor of banning books but did not want their children to read what they deemed as inappropriate and pornographic content.
Board member Tiffany Tilley (D-West Bloomfield) introduced an amendment to the resolution supporting parents in their right to choose age appropriateness of material for their child and rights to make “critical decisions with their local schools.”
Tilley said as a child, she read several pieces of literature, including Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” that included content that some would say was “racy.”
“I got to a certain age, and I realized we were talking about a 16-year-old boy, 13-year-old girl and they both committed suicide,” Tilley said. “I’m not for banning books. My mom allowed me to read those things. I think that made my life richer, but for some parents, they may not be ready for their children to read about something.”
Tilley emphasized that her amendment would signal to parents that the state is not trying to make decisions for them, but also the state is not trying to ban certain books for everyone. If a parent reads a book and decides they do not want their child to read it, then they need to make that decision with their local school district, she added.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Michael Rice said this amendment was similar to resolutions the board supported previously. In February 2022, the Resolution on Sex Education included language that allowed for parents and legal guardians to opt-out of sex education classes without penalty.
Board member Tom McMillin (R-Oakland Township) wanted wording included that would make clear the board was stating pornography should not be allowed in schools. Board member Marshall Bullock (D-Detroit) jumped in, saying that there are already laws forbidding pornography in school. He asked McMillin how he defined pornography, saying his definition may lead to the banning of other subject matter such as the teaching of human anatomy in a biology course.
In the end, the board voted to approve the resolution 6-2, with McMillin and board member Nikki Snyder (R-Dexter) voting no.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Michigan is doing great things lately – this Freedom to Read being just one of them. The legislature has flipped and, with Gov. Whitmer in charge, the state is taking the lead for progress.
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Indeed! Michigan is a beacon of sanity!
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MERCUTIO
God ye good e’en, fair gentlewoman.
NURSE
Is it good e’en?
MERCUTIO
‘Tis no less, I tell you, for the bawdy hand of the
dial is now upon the prick of noon.
–Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, scene iv
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How have Western cultures survived onslaught by such filth for more than 400 years now? It’s a miracle. Has the Bouffant-coiffed Repugnican Moms Club arrived just in time to save us?
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I hate it when the bawdy hand of the dial is on the prick of noon. My car won’t start.
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Roy Turrentine ORRRRR . . . . as Harrison Ford says in “Witness” as he points to his coffee cup, “Now THAT’s good coffee.” CBKc
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If a parent objects, the Principal or AP can direct the teacher to assign alternate work to the parent’s kid.
That should be enough. Then, that parent can face the consequences of sending his or her overprotected child out into a world that has some rough edges.
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I’ve always been proud to have gone to school in Michigan, where we students were lucky to have mostly great teachers who used a variety of
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…whoops…methods to help us grow. It’s starting to look like the Flint water crisis was the deep part of Michigan’s bad period, and the state is really coming back. Keep an eye on Michigan.
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The Hill reported today that the College Board won’t alter AP courses to comply with Florida law.
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great
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“Freedom to read.” When I was growing up and through college, people behind the Iron Curtain put their lives on the line, risking possible prison, torture, and death to exercise the freedom to read. In 2023 America, it has to be written into laws to guarantee it. In one state. What’s wrong with this picture?
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Plenty
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While I applaud any efforts to grant freedom of conscience, I am somewhat appalled that anyone thinks this is necessary. The constitution we have is abundantly clear. The right of conscience is already a guaranteed part of the document. States like Michigan obviously fear a Supreme Kangaroo Court might sanction blanket bans on certain topics. States like Florida seem to fear these topics.
I think we are talking about this because the book banning distracts us from the rampant corruption that infects modern political discourse. Infrastructure is now so long neglected by the state governments that we are poisoning people in Flint and ruining their cars all across the country running on rough highways. All is sacrificed on the altar of low taxes without rational discussion of important issues relating to health, work, and community.
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Roy, you probably read that a large section of I-95, a major interstate Highway running north-south on the East Coast collapsed in Philadelphia
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Diane, but that was not a neglected area of infrastructure, it was barely 10 yrs old & in good shape. 8500 gals of gasoline on its way to 1st delivery of the day crashed off ramp & ignited, burning for an hour directly under steel beams & concrete wall support.
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Ginny,
I stand corrected. However, it is the case that much of our public infrastructure has been neglected. Bridges, tunnels, highways. Biden succeeded in passing bipartisan legislation to fund a major investment in same. Republican districts benefit too.
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Agreed!
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As a life-long Michigander, I am, naturally, pleased and excited about the State Board’s resolution. Michigan used to be many things–the cradle of unionism, a high-wage state for teachers (and high-scoring, before scores became The Indisputable Truth), a beautiful blend of industrial jobs and natural beauty, surrounded by water. We have two of the top ten universities for graduate programs in education, and a cluster of well-regarded regional universities. Until a dozen years ago, we were a teacher exporting state. We used to say to prospective teachers–well, if you can’t find a job in Michigan, they’ll always hire you in Florida.
That, of course, was then. The damage done to Michigan has all been politically driven, from utter neglect of the roads in an effort to save money (in a state where all highways are routinely salted, even if the lakes are unsalted), the damage done in the Republican quest to shut down and humiliate our largest school district–and who can forget poisoning the city of Flint’s water, then covering it up?
It MUST be noted that none of the very recent recovery in Michigan would have happened if Voters Not Politicians (started by a single woman, Katie Fahey, with a Facebook page) had not organized, shortly after Trump was elected. I went to one of her early meetings, in 2017 and it was a lot of volunteer enthusiasm, accompanied by confusion and lack of resources. But eventually, a mandate to un-gerrymander the state was passed in 2018, and the last two elections demonstrated that we have always been a pretty purple, middle-of-the-road state. Our legislature–with barely-there Democratic majorities has been like that movie: Everything, everywhere, all at once, passing great legislation and resolutions, moving us back to the center and even further, rescuing schools. I don’t even mind stopping for road construction.
Your purple-voter, red-dominated state can do it to. You just need a Katie Fahey.
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Wonderful account, Nancy. Very hopeful! We need to know more about Kate Fahey!
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As a former Michigander, who left Flint before they switched the water to the polluted Flint River–who lived there when state and local governments were progressive, i.e. fluoridating the water, etc.–who benefited from progressive schools–I say, Hooray! (I’m still torn, though, when Michigan plays OSU–my college. I wish they still had tie games). But Michigan started as a progressive state–banning capital punishment as the first act of government–and seems to be returning to that status under Gov. Whitmer’s leadership.
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