MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It's a sad day when librarians are being compared to sexual predators and lawmakers openly talk about burning books, but that's what's happening in our state Legislature.
It's one thing to give parents more say in the books schools put in their libraries, but things are getting ridiculous. So ridiculous it sparked protests and heated debate Wednesday in Nashville.
There's talk of a politically appointed textbook commission that would give final approval over all books. It would have the authority to approve or reject entire collections or individual materials. That sounds like censorship to me.
Rep. Jerry Sexton suggested he would take things even further, saying "I would burn them" when referring to the books he considers inappropriate. Although he and other supporters have only given limited examples of the books they'd ban.
With so many issues facing our schools, it seems like a lot of time is being wasted on things that may look good for headlines, but aren't really helping our kids.
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