19 Fulton Street, Suite 407

New York, NY 10038

Joan E. Bertin
Executive Director

tel: (212) 807-6222

fax: (212) 807-6245
email: ncac@ncac.org
web: www.ncac.org

NCAC PARTICIPATING
ORGANIZATIONS
Actors Equity Association
American Association of
School Administrators
American Association of
University Professors
American Association of
University Women
American Booksellers
for Free Expression

BY ELECTRONIC MAIL

American Civil Liberties Union

American Ethical Union
American Federation of Teachers

June 3, 2015

North Carolina General Assembly

Senator Phil Berger, President Pro Tempore

Phil.Berger@ncleg.net

Speaker Tim Moore

Tim.Moore@ncleg.net

Senator Dan Blue

Dan.Blue@ncleg.net

Representative Larry D. Hall

Larry.Hall@ncleg.net

Dear Legislative Leaders,

As organizations dedicated to defending the freedom to read, we are writing to

express concerns about J. Todd Chasteens qualifications to serve on the State
Board of Education, which we hope you will consider in deciding whether to
approve his nomination. In particular, we call your attention to Mr. Chasteens
efforts to remove Isabel Allendes The House of the Spirits from the high school
honors English curriculum in Watauga County schools. While as a citizen Mr.
Chasteen has every right to publicly express his opinion about this or any other
book, his effort to censor this critically acclaimed novel makes him an
inappropriate choice for a policy-making and oversight role in the states public
education system.

In November 2013, a parent in the Watauga County school district challenged The
House of the Spirits, which was being taught in a sophomore English honors class
consistent with its inclusion in North Carolinas 10th grade curriculum on
the grounds that the books content is graphic and immoral. The House of the
Spirits, authored by Isabel Allende, is a critically acclaimed novel often taught for
its insights into Chilean history and life under a dictatorship as well as an
example of the magical realism genre. Parents and students at Watauga High
overwhelmingly supported retaining the book in the 10th grade curriculum. The

American Jewish Committee

American Library Association
American Literary Translators
Association
American Orthopsychiatric Association
American Society of Journalists
& Authors
Americans United for Separation of
Church & State
Association of American Publishers
Authors Guild
Catholics for Choice
Childrens Literature Association
College Art Association
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
The Creative Coalition
Directors Guild of America
Dramatists Guild of America
Dramatists Legal Defense Fund
Educational Book & Media Association
First Amendment Lawyers Association
International Reading Association
Lambda Legal
Modern Language Association
National Center for Science Education
National Communication Association
National Council for the Social Studies
National Council of Churches
National Council of Jewish Women
National Council of Teachers of English
National Education Association
National Youth Rights Association
The Newspaper Guild/CWA
PEN American Center
People For the American Way
Planned Parenthood Federation
of America
Project Censored
SAG-AFTRA
Sexuality Information & Education
Council of the U.S.
Society of Childrens Book Writers
& Illustrators
Student Press Law Center
Union for Reform Judaism
Union of Democratic Intellectuals
Unitarian Universalist Association
United Church of Christ
Office of Communication
United Methodist Church
United Methodist Communications
Womens American ORT
Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance
Writers Guild of America, East
Writers Guild of America, West

School Board ultimately retained the book, noting the curriculum offered an alternative selection for parents
and/or children who did not wish to read The House of the Spirits.

Although he has no children in the districts public school system, Mr. Chasteen lobbied a member of the
district school board, urging him to ban the book. In emails obtained through a public records request, Mr.
Chasteen called The House of the Spirits a sex book. In other comments, he objected to 59 sexual
references, claiming that dysfunctional sexuality is the main theme of the book.

While there may be shock value in isolating words and passages from The House of the Spirits, doing so
reveals nothing about the fundamental message or theme in the work, nor can it provide insight into the
books literary, educational, or cultural value. Worse, the ethical and literary value of a work is distorted if
one focuses only on particular words, passages, or segments taken out of context. Further, by rejecting the
policy to accommodate differing views about the book by providing an alternative text, Mr. Chasteen would
have public school educators privilege the views of some parents over others.

Throughout this affair, Mr. Chasteen displayed little or no appreciation for the constitutional obligations of
public school officials, who are prohibited from removing educational material because some object to or
disapprove of its content. The Supreme Court has held that the First Amendment protects the citizen
against the State itself and all of its creatures Boards of Education not excepted, and further noted that
the fact that public schools are educating the young for citizenship is reason for scrupulous protection of
Constitutional freedoms of the individual, if we are not to strangle the free mind at its source and teach
youth to discount important principles of our government as mere platitudes . . . . West Virginia Board of
Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624, 637 (1943).

Thus, government officials may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea
itself offensive or disagreeable. Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397, 414 (1989). This principle applies with equal
force in public schools: [L]ocal school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply
because they dislike the ideas contained in those books . . . . Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free
School District No. 26 v. Pico, 457 U.S. 853, 872 (1982). While school officials have greater discretion over
curricular materials, the requirement remains that schools may only remove materials for educationally
sound reasons, not because some object to their content.

Nor do parents have a right to tell a public school what . . . [their] child will and will not be taught, Leebaert
v. Harrington, 332 F.3d 134, 141 (2d Cir. 2003), or to direct how a public school teaches their child. Blau v.
Fort Thomas Public School District, 401 F.3d 381, 395 (6th Cir. 2005). Any other rule would put schools in the
untenable position of having to cater a curriculum for each student whose parents had genuine moral
disagreements with the schools choice of subject matter. Brown v. Hot, Sexy and Safer Productions, Inc., 68
F.3d 525, 534 (1st Cir. 1995), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 1159 (1996). Moreover, removing educationally valuable
materials from schools because some object to their content subjects schools to potential legal liability. See
Monteiro v. Tempe Union High School District, 158 F. 3d 1022, 1028 (9th Cir. 1998) (rejecting challenge to
books based on racial content and recognizing the First Amendment right of students to read books selected
for their legitimate educational value).

Purging classrooms of works that contain sexual situations and other content that some find offensive
would eliminate scores of esteemed literary works by Joyce, Faulkner, Morrison, Vonnegut, Hemingway,
Steinbeck, Dostoyevsky, and many others. As these examples suggest, any attempt to eliminate everything
that is objectionable . . . will leave public education in shreds. Nothing but educational confusion and a
discrediting of the public school system can result . . . .McCollum v. Board of Education,332 U.S. 203, 236
(1948) (Jackson, J., concurring).

The North Carolina State Board of Educations vision is that [e]very public school student will graduate
ready for post-secondary education and work, prepared to be a globally engaged and productive citizen.

While we support Mr. Chasteens First Amendment right to voice his opinions, we believe that his campaign
against The House of the Spirits must be taken into account in considering whether he is qualified to carry forward
this vision. In our view, his disregard for First Amendment principles and principles of academic freedom, and his
willingness to impose his worldview upon students throughout the public school system, are incompatible with the
Boards mission of preparing students for further education, work, and global citizenship. In short, Mr. Chasteens
appointment to the Board would undermine its credibility as a guarantor of a robust, well-rounded education for all
of the states public school students.

Thank you for your consideration, and please let us know if we can be of further assistance.

Sincerely,

Chris Finan, President

Joan Bertin, Executive Director
National
Coalition
Against
Censorship
American Booksellers for Free Expression

CC: Representative Dean Arp: Dean.Arp@ncleg.net

Representative Marilyn Avila: Marilyn.Avila@ncleg.net
Representative John R. Bell, IV: John.Bell@ncleg.net
Representative James L. Boles, Jr.: Jamie.Boles@ncleg.net
Representative John R. Bradford, III: John.Bradford@ncleg.net
Senator Harry Brown: Harry.Brown@ncleg.net
Senator Ben Clark: Ben.Clark@ncleg.net
Representative Susan C. Fisher: Susan.Fisher@ncleg.net
Representative John A. Fraley: John.Fraley@ncleg.net
Representative Mike Hager: Mike.Hager@ncleg.net
Senator Fletcher L. Hartsell, Jr.: Fletcher.Hartsell@ncleg.net
Representative Pat B. Hurley: Pat.Hurley@ncleg.net
Representative Charles Jeter: Charles.Jeter@ncleg.net
Representative Grier Martin: Grier.Martin@ncleg.net
Representative Graig R. Meyer: Graig.Meyer@ncleg.net
Representative Henry M. Michaux, Jr.: Mickey.Michaux@ncleg.net
Senator Louis Pate: Louis.Pate@ncleg.net
Representative Garland E. Pierce: Garland.Pierce@ncleg.net
Representative Robert T. Reives, II: Robert.Reives@ncleg.net
Representative Bobbie Richardson: Bobbie.Richardson@ncleg.net
Representative Paul Stam: Paul.Stam@ncleg.net
Senator Jerry W. Tillman: Jerry.Tillman@ncleg.net
Senator Terry Van Duyn: Terry.VanDuyn@ncleg.net
Representative Michael H. Wray: Michael.Wray@ncleg.net