RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) 鈥 After fiery debate, a North Carolina bill advanced through the state House on Wednesday that gives parents a bigger say in which books are allowed 鈥 or banned 鈥 from the state's public and charter schools.
Now, the bill heads to the state Senate. The legislation had a short trip through the House as Republican lawmakers quickly ran it through committees the day before. It鈥檚 also an issue the Trump administration has signaled it supports.
A few days after President Donald Trump took office, denounced what it called former President Joe Biden's 鈥渂ook ban hoax.鈥 The agency 11 complaints on book challenges and removed a coordinator charged with investigating those bans, saying it was the first step in 鈥渞estoring the fundamental rights of parents to direct their child's education.鈥
Book bans have over the past five years, as several states across the country have barring some subjects from school libraries and letting parents submit book challenges. Their supporters say book bans protect students from being exposed to explicit material in school and empower parents within school systems.
In some conservative states, teachers and librarians for what some consider 鈥渙bscene鈥 material found in public schools. Over the past year, a countermovement in Democratic-led states has instead.
North Carolina's bill would charge a public school superintendent with creating a 鈥渃ommunity library advisory committee鈥 made up of five parents and five school employees. That committee would then make recommendations for which books or films should be approved or denied.
Those recommendations would be published on school websites, where community members could submit their own objections to content slated for approval. The governing body of the district, typically the school board, would then decide on the recommendations at a meeting, according to the bill.
Some GOP legislators spoke in support of the bill and adamantly denied that the legislation facilitated book bans. Instead, they said parents could choose to buy books or check out books from public libraries if they weren't available at their school.
鈥淭his is not a book ban,鈥 Cabarrus County Republican Rep. Brian Echevarria said. 鈥淭his is putting things out of the reach of children.鈥
Several Democratic House members vehemently opposed the bill, saying it could lead to censorship within schools. They argued that lawmakers shouldn't play a role in determining what books can be allowed in school libraries 鈥 which was met by applause from attendees in the chamber gallery.
"Let's stop tasking our superintendents with edicts from Raleigh that drain their time from actually educating our children," said Democratic Rep. Amos Quick of Guilford County.
Debate was eventually cut off by GOP leadership using a parliamentary procedure.
Schools that do not comply with the legislation could be subject to civil penalties by parents or residents who sue. The State Board of Education would also be responsible for maintaining a public database of library materials that have been rejected.
