What groups have sought book bans in Wisconsin schools? Here are four to know.
Over the past three years, parents across Wisconsin have confronted school board members with lists of dozens of books they want removed from school libraries.
Some of those parents have been affiliated with local chapters of national organizations. Here are four that have challenged books in Wisconsin.
More: Are Wisconsin schools banning books? Here's what we know.
Moms for Liberty
At least three of the 11 Wisconsin chapters of Moms for Liberty, a group designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an extremist antigovernment organization, have pushed school districts to remove books from school libraries.
The biggest request, which ultimately failed, came from Danielle Erickson, chair of the St. Croix County chapter. She and other parents in February sent the Somerset School District a list of 32 books to review, which she argued "do not encourage our students to follow moral strength and virtue."
All of the books appear on BookLooks.org. The book list from the parents used the same terms found in BookLooks reviews, including "inflammatory racial and religious commentary" in Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye," and "alternate gender ideologies" in George Johnson's "All Boys Aren't Blue."
More: What is BookLooks.org? A low-tech website tied to Moms for Liberty
Erickson vowed to appeal to the school board to overturn any staff decisions to keep any of the books. Before the board considered the first appeal in June, for "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," by Stephen Chbosky, Moms for Liberty chapter vice chair Joleen Degelau warned members they could lose votes if they allowed the book to stay.
"There are members on this board who we voted for because we thought their values aligned with ours, values like faith in God, devotion to family values and unwavering patriotism," Degelau said.
Somerset School Board members voted 4-3 to keep the books. Then, with dozens of books still ahead for review — a process estimated to take two years — board members eliminated the appeals process, allowing the decisions of school staff to stand. Superintendent Shannon Donnelly told the Journal Sentinel all books were returned to the shelves.
Two other Moms For Liberty chapters were involved in previous challenges.
In late 2021 in northern Wisconsin, representatives of the Polk County chapter asked the Amery School District to review "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl," and "The Haters," according to request forms obtained in an open records request.
Asked what material they would recommend in place of "The Haters," a 2016 young adult novel about three musicians on a road trip, the organization suggested William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew."
Neither request was approved by the district, the records request showed. The chapter chair, Stephanie Jansen, later posed on Facebook with chapter-sponsored fliers that link to BookLooks, along with a document telling parents to "beware" of certain books in local school libraries.
In central Wisconsin, Mary Schueller, the chair of the Wood County chapter of Moms for Liberty, requested the removal of four books from Marshfield High School last May, according to reporting by Wisconsin Watch. As of August, Wisconsin Watch reported Schueller hadn't moved forward with the district's removal procedure.
MassResistance
Most recently, a Wisconsin chapter of MassResistance, a group designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-LGBTQ group, has asked the Kenosha Unified School District to remove books it refers to as "pornographic." It has been joined by the Republican Party of Kenosha County.
At an Oct. 24 board meeting, Kenosha Superintendent Jeffrey Weiss said the district had received 12 forms challenging school library books. He said he was putting together ad hoc committees to consider them.
Parents' Rights in Education
Another national organization, Parents' Rights in Education, has shown up in a few Wisconsin book debates.
Earlier this year, Gallagher, the national director, urged residents of Hudson, Wisconsin, to show up for a school board meeting to oppose a list of books that ninth-graders were able to choose from for a unit in English. A video recording of the school board meeting didn't show anyone speaking about the books. Jamie Johnson, president of the school board in Hudson, said he didn't recall anyone raising an issue about the books.
In Baraboo, Lana Campbell, leader of the local Parents' Rights in Education chapter, promoted her chapter's endorsement of school board candidates who wanted to remove certain school library books, including "Kite Runner," "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," and "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian," according to reporting by Channel 3000. The three candidates lost their elections.
Sara Olson, a Parents' Rights in Education chapter leader in Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau, a school district near La Crosse, asked the district to remove "Queer Ducks," by Eliot Schrefer, school board records show. A committee voted to remove it, but the school board rescinded the vote after concluding it failed to follow proper procedure.
According to reporting by the Trempealeau County Times, the committee voted in June not to remove the book but to allow parents to individually block their children from accessing it. Two school board members resigned in frustration over the book challenge, the Times reported. Board member Paul Kinzer said in a statement provided to the Times: “I quit because there are families in G-E-T who have been hurt by the actions taken by the school district. Our LGBTQ+ community is hurting."
No Left Turn in Education
Alexandra Schweitzer, chair of the Wisconsin chapter No Left Turn in Education, complained last year to the Oconomowoc Area School District about books on an app called SORA: "Gender Quest Workbook," "It's Perfectly Normal" and "Queer." The school board president said the district had already ended its SORA subscription.
More: Here's a list of books that Wisconsin school districts have banned or restricted
Contact Rory Linnane at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @RoryLinnane.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What groups have sought book bans in Wisconsin schools? Four to know.
