California bans schools from banning books

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Monday prohibiting school boards from rejecting any book because it teaches about racial diversity, gender ideologies, and sexuality. Newsom said the law cements California as a “true freedom state.” The bill was modeled after an Illinois law counteracting book bans, which will go into effect in January.

Does everyone support the law? The California School Board Association opposed it because it gives the state superintendent of public instruction the power to enforce the law without giving school districts a chance to investigate. The association also takes issue with changes to the complaint process, which allow the state superintendent to level financial penalties against noncompliant school districts and personally name the members of those school boards in online notices.

Dig deeper: Read Mary Jackson’s report in WORLD Magazine on the fight against sexualized content in kids’ books.