The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights has rescinded all guidance that said school districts could violate civil rights law by implementing book bans, according to a statement issued Friday by the new Trump administration.
Removing "age-inappropriate" books from schools is a decision that should be made by parents and communities, and therefore OCR "has no role in these matters," the statement said.
In line with that stance, OCR on Friday dismissed 11 complaints related to book bans.
The agency also eliminated the position of book ban coordinator, whose job was to develop training for schools on how book bans targeting specific communities and driving “hostile school environments” might run counter to federal civil rights laws. The Biden administration created the position in 2023.
President Donald Trump's Education Department "adheres to the deeply rooted American principle that local control over public education best allows parents and teachers alike to assess the educational needs of their children and communities," said Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, in a statement on Friday.
"Parents and school boards have broad discretion to fulfill that important responsibility. These decisions will no longer be second-guessed by the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education,” Trainor said.
He added that by taking these actions, "the department is beginning the process of restoring the fundamental rights of parents to direct their children’s education.”
The new administration began its review of OCR's book banning cases on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day, according to the Education Department's statement. Attorneys "quickly confirmed" that rather than book bans, school districts had implemented "commonsense processes" for parents and community stakeholders to evaluate and remove materials deemed not age-appropriate, the department said.
According to PEN America, a free expression advocacy group, book bans reached a record high in the 2023-24 school year. The group recorded 10,046 instances of banned books during the 2023-24 school year and 3,362 in the previous school year.
The group said the most commonly banned books featured characters of color or LGBTQ+ characters, as well as sex and sex-related topics.
