A Summer reading list of conservative books was just banned at an Alabama high school.
Gene Ponder, a former Republican candidate for Alabama lieutenant governor, provided a reading list over the summer to students taking his Advanced Placement Government class at Spanish Fort High School that consisted of several books written by conservatives and libertarians, including Mark Levin, Thomas Sowell, Ronald Reagan, Walter Williams, John Stossel and Ann Coulter. Students were instructed to write a report about one of the books on the list.
Here’s the full list:
Spanish Fort High School in Alabama gave this AP Government summer reading list.
RT if you agree that this propaganda isn't okay. pic.twitter.com/FzsxAX2lhS
— Rachel Gonzalez (@RachelGonKCMO) June 21, 2017
Social media posts like the above tweet spread throughout the community, as some were outraged over the “lack of diversity of ideas,” which is ironic given that academia is generally hostile to viewpoints that run counter to left-wing orthodoxy.
Nevertheless, the complaints about it caused the Baldwin County Board of Education to force Ponder to rescind the reading list.
Baldwin County Superintendent Eddie Tyler said in a statement, “Mr. Ponder’s reading list that is going around on social media has not been endorsed by the school system. The list has been removed by the teacher. Baldwin County Public Schools has a process to vet and approve reading lists so that a variety of sources are used. I expect all employees to follow our processes, procedures and policies.”
Fox News’ Todd Starnes didn’t buy Tyler’s excuse.
“Yeah, right,” wrote Starnes. “Why do I get the feeling the controversy surrounding Mr. Ponder’s reading list was more about politics instead of procedures?”
Indeed, it seems hard to believe that Ponder would have been forced to pull his list if it had consisted solely of left-wing authors like Paul Krugman and Jeffrey Toobin.
The incident highlights the fierce grip the political left holds on the current education system and the need “to break up the monopoly” it has over America’s schools, as Levin said during a Friday Facebook live stream.
“School choice, whether it’s tax credits, whether it’s vouchers, whatever it is we need it,” Levin said.
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