Members of the General Assembly are considering legislation that would stop school boards from banning books.
Rebecca Messe is a parent of public school students in Hanover, and she says school boards across Virginia should have the power to remove books from school libraries. She says that's not a book ban because those same books are also available at bookstores and public libraries.
"Hyper-sexualized content ought not be pushed on kids in school," Messe says. "And as parents, we have a constitutionally-protected right to oversee the care and education of our own children."
Senator Schuyler VanValkenburg is a Democrat from Henrico who says parental rights can cut both ways. He says he doesn't want his parental rights to be eroded either.
"If what you really want is for a locality to be able to yank books in the middle of the night off a shelf taking away your rights as a parent to dictate your kid’s choices – I want my kid to read Kurt Vonnegut, personally – well, then vote against the bill," he says.
The House and Senate have both approved similar bills curtailing the ability of school boards to ban books with bipartisan support, which means the legislation is likely to be heading to the governor’s desk in the next few weeks. The Family Foundation is urging the governor to veto the bill.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
