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In recent weeks, my media outlet has been tracking an ongoing battle between left-leaning woke propagandists at the South Carolina Association of School Librarians (SCASL) and the new, conservative leadership at the S.C. Department of Education (SCDE).
At stake? The minds of hundreds of thousands of Palmetto State school children … or what’s left of those minds once South Carolina’s worst-in-the-nation government-run school system gets a hold of them.
SCASL landed in hot water earlier this year when it decided to assail any attempt by parents to remove wildly inappropriate/ hyper-sexual/ gender confusing materials from school libraries as some sort of discriminatory book-banning campaign. After being first rebuked at the local level by Midlands school board leader Rebecca Blackburn Hines, state superintendent of education Ellen Weaver got involved in the pushback against this group – part of the über-liberal American Library Association (ALA).
“Parents are entirely justified in seeking to ensure educational materials presented to their children are age-appropriate and aligned with the overall purpose of South Carolina’s instructional program and standards,” Weaver wrote. “When SCASL labels those efforts as bans, censorship, or a violation of educators’ intellectual freedom, the result is a more hostile environment which does not serve the needs of students.”
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Weaver severed her agency’s ties with the group – and earlier this month SCASL’s executive director Michelle Spires resigned from her post in the aftermath of the drama.
While this fight rages on at the institutional level, parents across the Palmetto State are rallying together in the hopes of establishing some permanent demarcation lines moving forward.
One such parent is Carly Carter, chairwoman of the Anderson County chapter of the Moms for Liberty organization. Carter, 37, originally from Greenville, S.C., has launched a statewide petition website entitled ‘Clean Up SC Schools’ which is endeavoring to get “vulgar and sexually explicit material removed from school libraries.”
“If you had told me three years ago that it would be controversial to say that minors shouldn’t have access to sexually explicit content at school, I would have never believed you,” Carter told me. “But here we are, in rural South Carolina, facing battle after battle to protect our children from X-rated content while at school. Every signature on this petition represents a child that we can protect from being exposed to vulgar, inappropriate material.”
Carter told me she launched the Anderson chapter of Moms for Liberty last December “to protect children by advocating for parental rights.”
(Click to view)
“We aim to improve transparency between parents and educators so that parents can continue to be the authority and decision makers for their children,” she told me. “What is a more uniting cause than standing up for our children and their future?”
Carter’s petition page referenced “proposed legislation” which is being drafted “to combat this material from entering our schools.” The author of that legislation, state representative April Cromer, told me she intends to pre-file her bill when lawmakers gather for an organizational session in December of this year.
The Palmetto State’s “Republican” General Assembly – which consists of tepid GOP “supermajorities” in both the House and Senate – is midway through a two-year session that commenced in January.
“Schools in South Carolina are struggling to succeed in the basics, yet we have teachers unions and outside groups fighting to allow pornography in our libraries,” Cromer told me. “I’m proud to stand with Moms for Liberty. When the system was broken, they stepped up to make parents’ voices heard.”
“We have to re-establish trust between parents and our school system, and that begins with removing these lewd books and images from our libraries,” Cromer added.
(Click to view)
Cromer’s proposed legislation is modeled after a bill signed into law in Florida by governor Ron DeSantis. That law has been falsely characterized by the left as a “book ban.” According to Cromer, the goal of the envisioned law is to “protect our children from being sexualized at the taxpayer expense.”
“The purpose is to define age appropriate material, prevent these vulgar books from entering our schools, and hold those accountable who break the law,” she said. “No one is banning these books. These books are still available for purchase, just not at the expense of the taxpayer.”
Cromer – a member of the S.C. Freedom Caucus – is a first-term lawmaker from Anderson, S.C. who defeated a powerful legislative leader in the 2022 GOP primary election. In addition to leading the charge on several hot-button conservative issues at the S.C. State House , she is consistently among the most vocal members of the S.C. General Assembly when it comes to calling out her left-of-center, establishment colleagues.
When it comes to protecting children, Cromer says state lawmakers are failing to take action – listening to State House powerbrokers instead of parents.
“Once again South Carolina is not leading from the front,” she said. “Why not? Great question! Is your representative representing you? Or the lobby?”
To sign the ‘Clean Up SC Schools’ petition, click on the link below …
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THE PETITION …
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the owner and founding editor of FITSNews. Prior to founding his own news outlet, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina, bass guitarist in an alternative rock band and bouncer at a Columbia, S.C. dive bar. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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10 comments
Under new “conservative” extremists policies, Florida went from needing 2500 teaching positions filled to over 7000 unfilled positions in two years.
Those treachery weren’t going to SC for new jobs. Every place in the country where these MAGA nutters have taken control, it’s been an utter failure to even get what used to be routine, everyday functions of government done.
Heck, just look at the disaster that MAGA politicians have been in the Congress and Senate. MAGA fools are about to let the government get shut down (so they could make complete fools of themselves trying to impeach Biden. God, what a failure today was for tgem) and hurting our military in the Senate. Total failures.
So expect the same from the MAGA goons in SC.
Well done Bob. Thanks for a whole lotta nothing. I hope you know how to swim because that is a big ocean of worthless nonfactual feelings you are drowning in…..
Thanks, Beta Bob (glad to see you know your place in our exchange here)
Here’s the first thing to pop up when doing a simple Google search (I know its hard. I’m here to help..)
“ The teacher shortage crisis is the biggest issue facing schools across the state, according to the Florida Education Association. School districts in Northeast Florida lost 1,134 teachers at the end of the last school year. That makes up about 16 percent of the vacancies across the state – totaling 7,000.”
You were saying something about “nonfactual feelings” or something, Beta?
Poor thing.
You don’t know that Republicans are going to allow the government to shutdown in two days?
You don’t know Republican Senators are holding up military promotion (a normally routine function of the government)?
You don’t know Florida is facing a teacher staffing crisis?
Those are all facts. I’d be glad to be proven wrong…
Florida’s teacher vacancy rate is about 4.2%….the national average is 4%….so they’re neither exemplary nor laggard – they’re average.. California’s vacancy rate is about 6.2%. Closer scrutiny reveals that the “crisis” in Florida is the same in all states – its bad in certain districts and not in others. The one thing Florida does really need to fix is teacher pay – they rank 48% in the country – that one thing probably would fix most of this problem. But despite all this, real people, just trying to live their lives, keep ditching the liberal/marxist hellhole states and coming to FL, TX, SC, TN in droves. You hacks can strut and crow all you want about “MAGA nutters”, but the people in the real world know where things are bad, and where they are good – the migration says it all.
Yes, in the real world….let’s see what a majority of parents think about MAGA nutters banning books…
“ As the right-wing book-banning movement justifies its crusade against U.S. libraries and classrooms with claims of “parental rights,” survey data released Wednesday shows that 74% of parents agree or somewhat agree that book bans for public libraries infringe on their right to make decisions for their children.”
Have fun with all those new MAGA nutters!
Looks like in the real world, the majority of average normal parents don’t agree with these right-wing extremists banning books from libraries. Mom’s for White Nationalism time will be short.
“ As the right-wing book-banning movement justifies its crusade against U.S. libraries and classrooms with claims of “parental rights,” survey data released Wednesday shows that 74% of parents agree or somewhat agree that book bans for public libraries infringe on their right to make decisions for their children.“
So, according to these religious extremists trying to force their views on everyone and their crusade to get “vulgar and sexually explicit” materials removed from libraries, student would not be allowed to learn about Donald Trump’s life and Presidency?
These people are not smart enough to game out the repercussions of their actions. Which is why they have shown to be incompetent when given positions of leadership. SC schools will be no different than Florida’s unfolding disaster.
M4L in ASD1 either home school their kids or send them across county lines to parochial schools. They have no skin in the game and are only interested in foisting their will on others.
If one wants the state to stop providing PORN to the students, then they must file criminal charges against the State and the Individual Schools. This action of the state is a felony:
SECTION 16-15-305. Disseminating, procuring or promoting obscenity unlawful; definitions; penalties; obscene material designated contraband.
(A) It is unlawful for any person knowingly to disseminate obscenity. A person disseminates obscenity within the meaning of this article if he:
(1) sells, delivers, or provides or offers or agrees to sell, deliver, or provide any obscene writing, picture, record, digital electronic file, or other representation or description of the obscene;
(2) presents or directs an obscene play, dance, or other performance, or participates directly in that portion thereof which makes it obscene;
(3) publishes, exhibits, or otherwise makes available anything obscene to any group or individual; or
(4) exhibits, presents, rents, sells, delivers, or provides; or offers or agrees to exhibit, present, rent, or to provide: any motion picture, film, filmstrip, or projection slide, or sound recording, sound tape, or sound track, video tapes and recordings, or any matter or material of whatever form which is a representation, description, performance, or publication of the obscene.
(B) For purposes of this article any material is obscene if:
(1) to the average person applying contemporary community standards, the material depicts or describes in a patently offensive way sexual conduct specifically defined by subsection (C) of this section;
(2) the average person applying contemporary community standards relating to the depiction or description of sexual conduct would find that the material taken as a whole appeals to the prurient interest in sex;
(3) to a reasonable person, the material taken as a whole lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value; and
(4) the material as used is not otherwise protected or privileged under the Constitutions of the United States or of this State.
(C) As used in this article:
(1) “sexual conduct” means:
(a) vaginal, anal, or oral intercourse, whether actual or simulated, normal or perverted, whether between human beings, animals, or a combination thereof;
(b) masturbation, excretory functions, or lewd exhibition, actual or simulated, of the genitals, pubic hair, anus, vulva, or female breast nipples including male or female genitals in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal or covered male genitals in a discernably turgid state;
(c) an act or condition that depicts actual or simulated bestiality, sado-masochistic abuse, meaning flagellation or torture by or upon a person who is nude or clad in undergarments or in a costume which reveals the pubic hair, anus, vulva, genitals, or female breast nipples, or the condition of being fettered, bound, or otherwise physically restrained on the part of the one so clothed;
(d) an act or condition that depicts actual or simulated touching, caressing, or fondling of, or other similar physical contact with, the covered or exposed genitals, pubic or anal regions, or female breast nipple, whether alone or between humans, animals, or a human and an animal, of the same or opposite sex, in an act of actual or apparent sexual stimulation or gratification; or
(e) an act or condition that depicts the insertion of any part of a person’s body, other than the male sexual organ, or of any object into another person’s anus or vagina, except when done as part of a recognized medical procedure.
(2) “patently offensive” means obviously and clearly disagreeable, objectionable, repugnant, displeasing, distasteful, or obnoxious to contemporary standards of decency and propriety within the community.
(3) “prurient interest” means a shameful or morbid interest in nudity, sex, or excretion and is reflective of an arousal of lewd and lascivious desires and thoughts.
(4) “person” means any individual, corporation, partnership, association, firm, club, or other legal or commercial entity.
(5) “knowingly” means having general knowledge of the content of the subject material or performance, or failing after reasonable opportunity to exercise reasonable inspection which would have disclosed the character of the material or performance.
(D) Obscenity must be judged with reference to ordinary adults except that it must be judged with reference to children or other especially susceptible audiences or clearly defined deviant sexual groups if it appears from the character of the material or the circumstances of its dissemination to be especially for or directed to children or such audiences or groups.
(E) As used in this article, “community standards” used in determining prurient appeal and patent offensiveness are the standards of the area from which the jury is drawn.
(F) It is unlawful for any person knowingly to create, buy, procure, or process obscene material with the purpose and intent of disseminating it.
(G) It is unlawful for a person to advertise or otherwise promote the sale of material represented or held out by them as obscene.
(H) A person who violates this section is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned not more than five years or fined not more than ten thousand dollars, or both.
(I) Obscene material disseminated, procured, or promoted in violation of this section is contraband and may be seized by appropriate law enforcement authorities.
HISTORY: 1987 Act No. 168 Section 3; 1995 Act No. 7, Part I Section 13; 2001 Act No. 81, Section 7.