Wisconsin Deemed "One of the Most Dangerous States for Book Bans"

Friday, July 5th, 2024 -- 9:01 AM

(Rachel Hale, Wisconsin Watch) More than 100 Wisconsin school districts, 1 in 4, fielded inquiries about books or formal requests to remove them since 2020, according to a Wisconsin Watch review of records obtained from all but two of the state’s 421 public school districts.

According to Rachel Hale with Wisconsin Watch, most requests came from organized conservative groups and politicians rather than organic requests from parents concerned about required reading. In several cases, the school district didn’t own the books someone wanted to remove.

Requesters targeted books with LGBTQ+, sexually explicit and racial content, repeatedly alleging liberal bias and anti-Christian values. “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe, an autobiographical exploration of gender and sexuality that includes sexually explicit graphics, drew the most challenges and inquiries.

Wisconsin Watch’s findings are the most comprehensive look at attempts to ban books in the state since the pandemic, when remote learning gave some parents a closer look at what their students were being taught in public schools.

Experts say Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, among the most competitive battlegrounds in national politics, are particular hotbeds of book challenges as partisan actors use such tactics to energize their base.

Tasslyn Magnusson, a Wisconsin-based program consultant with Freedom to Read at PEN America, called Wisconsin “one of the most dangerous states for book bans.”

The records from every corner of the state showed 165 unique requesters raised questions about or formally sought to remove 1,617 books across 106 Wisconsin school districts between Jan. 1, 2020, and Oct. 13, 2023. That includes 625 formal challenges.

Districts removed books or restricted them to older grades or parental permission in 190 instances, involving 127 titles. Most removals took place in southeast Wisconsin districts, particularly Waukesha, Kenosha, West Allis, Oak Creek-Franklin and Elmbrook.

Wisconsin Watch found 114 more examples of book restrictions than the list maintained by PEN America, the leading institution tracking book challenges. PEN America counts any content-based action taken against a book that leads to removals or restrictions, for any period of time, overriding the original choices of school boards, administrators and teachers.

The count includes some situations in which schools later returned restricted books to shelves.

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