By Jack O’Toole | A controversial proposal to give control to the State Board of Education over which books will – and will not – be allowed in public school libraries may have to start over next year after a Senate panel delayed action.
Advocates say the proposal isn’t a book-banning effort. Rather, they say it aims to create a single statewide standard for reviewing books that have been challenged by parents or community members.
“The review of instructional materials in our public schools throughout the state is governed by a patchwork quilt of 80 or more different policies,” Miles Coleman, a Nelson Mullins attorney who helped write the proposal, told the subcommittee in one report.
But critics say the proposal’s language prohibiting books that contain descriptions or depictions of “sexual conduct” is overly broad and could lead to the removal of classics like George Orwekk’s 1984 and Toni Morrison’s Beloved.
“We object to this regulation as currently written,” said Paul Bowers, a spokesman for the ACLU of South Carolina. “It’s dangerous and would be a weapon in the hands of book banners.”
Due to the Senate subcommittee’s recent inaction, the proposal missed the legislature’s so-called “crossover” deadline, meaning that even if the Senate sent over a measure now, the state House of Representatives could only take it up with approval of a two-thirds majority.
In other recent headlines
S.C. Senate looks at how to spend budget surplus. Some want it to go to a one-time property tax cut. Others want a reduced income tax.- S.C. House approves letting candidates use campaign money for childcare. Candidates for elected office in South Carolina could use campaign donations to cover childcare expenses under legislation passed Tuesday in the House over the opposition of the hardline Freedom Caucus.
- Supporters urge S.C. lawmakers to take up medical marijuana bill. Supporters of the push to make South Carolina the 40th state to make medical cannabis legal remain hopeful the bill won’t get slowed down again this year, but time is running out.
- S.C. public college students could see 2% tuition hike. A proposal in the Senate would allow state colleges to increase their tuition rates up to 2% next year, even if the schools take the added state money. For students, it could mean an extra $200 to $300 for the next school year.
- Senate committee advances sweeping energy legislation despite concerns. A state Senate committee voted to fast-track a sweeping and controversial energy policy reform bill despite concerns from members of the public that the process was moving too quickly. They admit to not reading the massive bill, anyway.
- S.C. lawsuit reform dies in Legislature. The bill sought to change current state law that could leave individuals liable for all damages in a lawsuit, even if they were only partially at fault.
- Lawsuit accuses S.C. legislator of legal shenanigans. S.C Rep. Marvin Pendarvis, D-North Charleston, is being accused in a new lawsuit of settling another lawsuit without his client’s permission, forging that client’s signature and later attempting to pay off the man. Pendarvis has not commented, according to Thursday reports.
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