Domenic Sarno, Mayor and School Committee Chairman Springfield Public Schools 1550 Main Street Springfield, MA 01103

December 4, 2012

Dear Mayor Sarno and fellow School Committee Members: As organizations devoted to advancing education and free expression, we are writing to express concern regarding challenges to the use of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, and The Other Wes Moore, by Wes Moore, in 9th and 10th grade classes in the Springfield School District. We strongly encourage the Student and Parent Concerns School Subcommittee of the Springfield Public School District to retain these books and include diverse viewpoints in the school curriculum. The literary and instructional value of the texts are widely recognized. The New York Times called The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Little, Brown and Company) a gem of a book." Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, USA Today said that Alexie's novel is sure to resonate and lift the spirits of all ages for years to come. The recipient of seven starred reviews, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian was awarded the National Book Award for Young Peoples Literature, among other awards, in 2007. The New York Times named it a Notable Childrens Book. The Other Wes Moore (Spiegel & Grau) has also been widely praised for its incisive examination of the challenges young people encounter growing up in an urban environment. It explores the paths taken by two young men, both named Wes Moore: one becomes an investment banker and Rhodes Scholar; the other is sentenced to life in prison for killing a police officer. Publishers Weekly called the book a moving exploration of roads not taken. Both books address challenging, thought-provoking and difficult issues that touch the lives of many adolescents. Violence, addiction, and poverty are sad facts of life in some rural Native American reservations, inner city ghettos, and many other settings, and are realities that some of your students may already be confronting. Books like these engage even reluctant readers, and encourage all students to think critically about the challenges, choices, and consequences they and others may face in their lives. It would be educationally irresponsible and constitutionally questionable to remove curricular materials that are pedagogically suitable because some disagree with or are offended by their ideas or content. Students whose parents object to such material may request alternative assignments for their children, but they have no right to insist that the curriculum be altered to reflect their

views. Government officials, including public school administrators, may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable. Texas v. Johnson (1989) Furthermore, the school has a constitutional obligation not to endorse or accommodate a particular perspective or viewpoint at the expense of alternative views. It is well established that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, [or] religion. West Virginia State Bd. of Educ. v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624, 642 (1943). The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and The Other Wes Moore, like many books, may not be right for every high school student. But the school has a responsibility to represent a broad range of views in its curriculum and to meet the needs of everyone in the school community not just the most vocal, the most powerful, or even the majority. The views of parents who disapprove of these books are not shared by all, and banning them from the curriculum has First Amendment implications for the rights of other parents and their children. We strongly urge the SPS School Committee to reaffirm the importance and value of the freedom to read by retaining The Other Wes Moore and The Absolutely True Diary of a PartTime Indian in the high school curriculum. By doing so, the district will send a powerful message to students that, in this country, they have the responsibility and the right to think critically about what they read, rather than allowing others to think for them. Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance in this matter. Sincerely,

Joan Bertin Executive Director National Coalition Against Censorship

Chris Finan President American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression

Barbara Jones Executive Director, Office of Intellectual Freedom American Library Association

Charles Brownstein Executive Director Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

Judith Platt Director, Free Expression Advocacy Association of American Publishers

Kent Williamson Executive Director National Council of Teachers of English

Megan Tingley Senior Vice President and Publisher Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

CC:

Christopher Collins, Vice Chair Barbara Gresham, Member Denise Hurst, Member Atty. Peter Murphy, Member Antonette Pepe, Member Norman Roldan, Member Patricia McCarthy, Executive Assistant to the School Committee Patricia J. Walsh, Executive Assistant to the School Committee