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You are confusing a public hearing about a decision with the actual decision, which is usually made by administrators and then the board votes up or down. The o

by rsj_hn 5y ago

You are confusing a public hearing about a decision with the actual decision, which is usually made by administrators and then the board votes up or down. The outcome is generally known beforehand and the public hearing gives an opportunity for board members to speak. In these hearings, board members talk about all sorts of things -- have you ever been to such a hearing in San Francisco or for the SFUSD? You'd think every school policy was about climate change and racism. You would be groaning in embarrassment at what the schoolboard is saying and you'd be shocked at their ignorance. This is not to pick on San Francisco, it's true of most public meetings at the local level, which are involve lots of politicking and posturing, when the outcome of the vote is known in advance. I'm not saying this is bad, but it's certainly misleading to be citing the transcript of such a hearing as opposed to the actual text of the resolution being voted on when describing what a schoolboard did. It's also misleading to say a comic book is being "banned" when it's being replaced by an actual textbook and is still available for students to read if they want to.

danShumway 5y ago
Here's the board's statement on the controversy: https://www.mcminn.k12.tn.us/o/mcsd/article/639918 https://www.mcminn.k12.tn.us/o/mcsd/article/639918 I can't find any reference that implies that this decision was reached because Maus was too informal. Certainly the people who actually voted don't think that was the reason. I also can't find any reference confirming that it's already been replaced or saying what it's been replaced by. Where are you getting this information? I'd love to check what the administrators were thinking, but I can't find the actual text of the resolution online, and from their own statements it's very clear that the board members -- the people actually responsible for confirming whether the resolution should pass or not -- voted because they thought the book was inappropriate for middleschool children. > It's also misleading to say a comic book is being "banned" I think sometimes people use the word "ban" in different ways/contexts that apply different degrees of censorship. It's totally valid to for you to argue that the usage here is inappropriate or that it implies something stronger than what actually happened. However, given that the school board itself uses language saying that they "voted to remove the graphic novel Maus from McMinn County Schools", I don't think "ban" is an completely unreasonable word for someone to use or that using the word "ban" implies that someone is ignorant of the facts of what happened.

by rsj_hn 5y ago

danShumway 5y ago

Here's the board's statement on the controversy: https://www.mcminn.k12.tn.us/o/mcsd/article/639918 https://www.mcminn.k12.tn.us/o/mcsd/article/639918 I can't find any reference that implies that this decision was reached because Maus was too informal. Certainly the people who actually voted don't think that was the reason. I also can't find any reference confirming that it's already been replaced or saying what it's been replaced by. Where are you getting this information? I'd love to check what the administrators were thinking, but I can't find the actual text of the resolution online, and from their own statements it's very clear that the board members -- the people actually responsible for confirming whether the resolution should pass or not -- voted because they thought the book was inappropriate for middleschool children. > It's also misleading to say a comic book is being "banned" I think sometimes people use the word "ban" in different ways/contexts that apply different degrees of censorship. It's totally valid to for you to argue that the usage here is inappropriate or that it implies something stronger than what actually happened. However, given that the school board itself uses language saying that they "voted to remove the graphic novel Maus from McMinn County Schools", I don't think "ban" is an completely unreasonable word for someone to use or that using the word "ban" implies that someone is ignorant of the facts of what happened.