On Monday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a bill into law that will fine schools that ban textbooks based on their teachings on race, sexual orientation and gender identity.
The legislation, AB 1078, will punish school boards that choose to reject these kinds of textbooks for their students. Newsom called the measure “long overdue,” according to NBC News.
“From Temecula to Tallahassee, fringe ideologues across the country are attempting to whitewash history and ban books from schools. With this new law, we’re cementing California’s role as the true freedom state: a place where families — not political fanatics — have the freedom to decide what’s right for them,” Newsom said in a statement.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, Newsom said that Republicans are pushing “extremist book bans” and described it as “discriminatory.”
CA has now banned the extremist book bans the GOP are pushing.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 26, 2023
We will be fining schools that block textbooks and school library books for discriminatory reasons.https://t.co/tPA4z0Uvih
In a video signing the bill, Newsom said that it’s “remarkable that we’re living in a country right now in this banning binge” and said that school boards are “banning books, banning free speech, criminalizing librarians and teachers.”
California is banning book bans and textbook censorship in our schools.
— Office of the Governor of California (@CAgovernor) September 26, 2023
In partnership with @AsmCoreyJackson and @TonyThurmond, we’re cementing CA's role as the true freedom state: a place where families—not political fanatics—have the freedom to decide what’s right. pic.twitter.com/0br2MQN2rm
Townhall previously reported how Newsom announced that his administration will fine a school district $1.5 million after its school board voted to reject state-endorsed curriculum that includes a biography of a gay rights leader.
In an interview this week, Nicki Neily, the president of Parents Defending Education, said that “saying that a sexually explicit book doesn’t belong in an elementary school is not the same as burning a book in Berlin in 1933.”
“We’re seeing activists on the left, teachers unions, politicians really try and muddy the water intentionally to confuse parents,” Neily.
Saying that a sexually explicit book doesn’t belong in an elementary school is not the same as burning a book in Berlin in 1933.
— Nicki Neily (@nickineily) September 26, 2023
Activists are intentionally muddying the water to curb parental involvement and gain more control.
📺@jsolomonReports pic.twitter.com/P5qu931XZh
This week, it was announced that Newsom would debate GOP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running for president in 2024, in November.