Bipartisan opposition to HB5417 in Education committee - Vote NO on

“An Act Concerning Connecticut pk-12 school libraries”

Here is what you need to know . .

HB5417 TRANSFERS ULTIMATE AUTHORITY FROM SCHOOL BOARDS TO LIBRARIANS.

IT PERMITS PORN IN PUBLIC SCHOOL LIBRARIES, REMOVES OVERSIGHT FROM THE COMMUNITY, GIVES UNLIMITED POWER TO UNELECTED LIBRARIANS AND THEIR PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION.

IT JEOPARDIZES OUR K-12 SCHOOL LIBRARIES, EXCEEDS FEDERAL LAW AND violates A COMMUNITIES’ civil rights to redress those with power.

BREAKING NEWS STORY: An April 23 Rep-Am story encapsulates all that is wrong with HB5417.

A Goshen librarian rejected 49 written complaints based on technicalities, accepting only 1. Then the employee rejected the 1 remaining complaint based on a personal opinion that removing the book Gender Queer - which depicts people engaging in sex, encourages pornography use and more, would be “unconstitutional” (it’s not) and “antithetical” - huh.?

This illustrates what parents have been saying . . . all people, including librarians, can become dismissive and defensive when challenged and HB5417 will leave parents and the community with NO effective recourse to challenge pornographic materials in public schools. Oppose HB5417!

MEET WITH YOUR LEGISLATORS: Call your legislator today and ask to meet with them in their district or at the State Capitol to discuss opposition to HB5417. Click HERE to find your legislator and their contact information. Submit this form to request someone to accompany you to the meeting. Share this flyer.

SEND AN E-MAIL OR LETTER: You can use this template:

HB5417 Jeopardizes School Libraries

Please vote "no" on HB5417 because it transfers Board of Education authority from elected officials to library employees. Transferring authority away from elected officials subverts the PUBLIC's ability to participate effectively in the books selected for use in the PUBLIC school library. This is unfair because some books deserve to be challenged and the American Library Association and librarians are not without bias. For more details, including a book currently in a Connecticut public school library that deserved to be challenged by local parents, please visit https://noalacontrol-ct.org/.

USE THIS FORM: Contact your legislators using this form!

SUBMIT WRITTEN TESTIMONY: We need every concerned person to submit testimony and contact their legislators today. Select “3/11/24 Hearing Date”, “Opposes”, and “HB 5417 AAC Public School Libraries” from drop down menus and type your testimony into the chat or upload.

Success! A rally was held on 4/13/24 at the State Capitol in Hartford.

HISTORY

The public hearing was on 3/11/24. View Written Testimony here. Parents, grandparents, BOE members and more oppose this bill. There is still time to submit written testimony, even till the end of session! We need every concerned person to submit testimony and contact their legislators today.

HB5417 was voted out of the Education Committee on March 20, 2024. How did they vote? Learn HERE. All but 1 Republican voted against the bill and were joined by 2 Democrats against HB5417! Now it goes to the General Assembly, so we must contact all legislators today!

• HB5417 violates Connecticut civil rights to redress those with power
  
• removes accountability to the community for public school books
  
• blocks BOE from removing or even relocating pro-porn, explicit and obscene material in pk-12 grade libraries
  

There are likely over 8,278,830 public school library books in Connecticut and at best, 100 were challenged in all of 2023. That is not “banned” (which is a misnomer), they were “challenged” through a process established by elected officials. So what. These books are obscene, encourage consumption of porn and recreational sex (see below).

They deserve to be challenged.

• Connecticut librarians are not without bias. Watch this expose here.
  
• School library material has been radicalized to include comprehensive sexual instruction, some pushback by the community is healthy. This bill is to protect librarians (influenced by the ALA) from having to defend their book choices. That is not a good reason to pass a law removing the rights of the public to participate, through their elected officials, in the oversight of public school books.
• This American Library Association model bill strips local/community authority exclusively in favor of library media specialists.
• Bill would transfer authority from the Board of Education to a librarian.
  
• Prevents all School Boards from restricting or removing pro-porn, vulgar and sexually explicit media (including online pornography), “how to” books for sexual activity and more from all public school libraries, including grammar school.
  
• Transfers a “power of the government” to unelected school employees.
  
• The ALA is not a neutral arbiter of books. It is headed by a self-described “marxist”. They are an activist organization promoting subversion and sneaky behavior by media specialists in their libraries.
  
• Violates parents’ rights to “ apply to those invested with the powers of government, for redress of grievances” guaranteed by CT Constitution.
  
• Voters can’t hold elected officials accountable for books in school library if CT gives that discretion only to librarians - we need to preserve the balance of authority.
  
• HB5417 is a model bill from the ALA that has been passed in no other state besides Illinois where ALA is headquartered in Chicago.
  
• HB5417 violates standards for Boards of Education set forth in BOE v. Pico. HB5417 exceeds federal law by grades covered and content of materials.
  
• Even according to the ALA, only 13 challenges were made against library books in Connecticut in 2022. The ALA claims that 100 books were “challenged” in the first half of 2023, but provides no evidence. Which books, if any, were actually “challenged” and how? Where any even “removed” based on these challenges? Where is the need for this bill?
  

“Let’s Talk About It” is an example of a school library book that deserves any challenge it receives. Even this book has not been removed, so what are librarians complaining about? It’s ok to be “challenged” over books like this. Visit this testimony to see only one page of a book filled with “how to” instructions for sex, masturbation, anal and oral sex, pornography, how to watch porn and more. Follow this link to see an unedited version.

Currently available at Conard High School in West Hartford . . .

One of the broad categories of books that our elected officials will be banned from removing or even moving are all books related to “sexual health” in the public school library for all grades from pre-k to 12th. Librarians will get to define “sexual health” and may refer to our own State Department of Education standards below.

Just check out the 2021 “Healthy and Balanced Curriculum Guide” published in 2021 and still available online for school officials to use in determining what should be considered appropriate as “sexual health”. These standards were adopted by the Connecticut State Board of Education in November 2021 (page 16 is page 12 in below version) and abruptly “revised” in Spring 2022 to remove some explicit content. These are considered “age appropriate” core concepts for “sexual health” by the State of Connecticut. HB5417 would remove the community from effectively participating through their elected officials on what is appropriate “sexual health” material in libraries. Schools and librarians need accountability and effective participation by parents should be encouraged, not banned.

“Let’s Talk About it” currently at Conrad High in West Hartford and throughout the state. This is just one of many books containing instructions for sexual activity, encouraging the use of pornography and more.

THIS BOOK AND MANY OTHERS DESERVE ANY CHALLENGE MADE BY THE COMMUNITY. DON’T TAKE AWAY OUR RIGHT TO CHALLENGE PORNOGRAPHY IN PUBIC SCHOOL LIBRARIES.

No Porn in public school libraries- No HB5417

contact your legislator or learn more at

www.NoALAcontrol-ct.org