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Go to AzusaBeacon.com for Azusa Specific News M O N D AY, N O V E M B E R 16 - N O V E M B E R 22, 2020 V O L U M E 9, N O. 46
Burbank School District Bans Classic Novels from Curriculum BY TERRY MILLER
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ard to believe that in 2020 book-banning is rearing its ugly head again. Last month, the Burbank Unified School District became the flash point for yet another round of discussion on that very subject. Just last month we acknowledged Banned Books Week which celebrates the right to read and highlights attempts throughout history to censor books in libraries and schools. History does indeed repeat itself: Burbank Unified School Board “firmly requested” during a meeting that teachers stop teaching four books: Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird,” Theodore Taylor’s “The Cay,” and Mildred Taylor’s “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry,” following complaints from a small number of parents. PEN America’s Chil-
dren’s and Young Adult Books Committee co-signed a letter from the National Coalition Against Censorship urging the district to reinstate the books. The district responded by affirming the ban. Pen America has started an online challenge to reinstate the banned books. “As an organization devoted to the freedom to read, we’re shocked by the school board’s decision. We’re urging the Board to allow these books to be taught, and to reject calls to ban them from their schools’ curriculum,” PEN said in a statement. According to the Los Angeles Times, in addition to the four books John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” has also been challenged in Burbank. “The challenges came from four parents (three of them Black) for alleged potential harm to the public-school district’s roughly 400 Black students. All but ‘Huckleberry Finn’ have been required reading in the BUSD,” The Times wrote.
Pen America has released the following petition urging the district to allow teaching of the books while the challenges to the books are reviewed: “To the Burbank Unified School District, “We the undersigned object to the news that several books dealing with the subject of race in America—Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird,” Theodore Taylor’s “The Cay,” and Mildred Taylor’s “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry”—have been temporarily banned within Burbank public school classes, while the Board determines whether or not to ban them entirely. We call upon the district to lift the temporary ban and allow these books to be taught in Burbank classrooms. “Each of the books in question deal with difficult subject matter from our country’s complicated and painful history, including systemic racism. In a year when we have seen a national movement against
systemic racial injustice, it is crucial to bring these subjects into the classroom with care and sensitivity, which teachers are wellequipped to do. Blocking engagement with these important books is also avoiding the important role that schools can and should play in providing context for why these books inspire and challenge us still today. “We understand that this ban may have been proposed with good intentions. But banning books is not the answer. Informed guidance from trained educators would allow students to learn about their world and themselves from these book’s challenging stories and ideas in a supported space. “Removing the books— especially before any proper review has been conducted—undermines the expertise of the district’s educators, robs students of an important educational opportunity, and sets a troubling precedent that undermines the ability of educators, students, and families to make decisions
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for themselves. “We urge you to recognize the literary and educational merit of these books, and to reject banning them. “We hope that Burbank
officials will recognize that book banning is a tactic that ultimately does a great disservice to our educators, our communities, and most importantly to our children.”
Attorney General Becerra Announces Charges in Extensive Medi-Cal Fraud Scheme in Los Angeles County California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced Thursday the arraignments of Ashot Mamikonyan and Lorraine Watson, the final two of nine defendants charged in an extensive fraud scheme involving All Care One Community Health Center in Huntington Park. In July, charges were filed
against the defendants, all of whom worked for, owned, or were officers at All Care One. The group is alleged to have committed fraud amounting to over $2.5 million from California’s Family Planning, Access, Care, and Treatment (FPACT) program from 2014 to 2016. “Crimes against a
program like FPACT, which is designed to help low income Californians by providing them with free family planning education, assistance, and services, will not be tolerated,” said Attorney General Becerra. “Those who steal from these programs are stealing from the families who rely on them. My office
will vigorously pursue anyone who commits fraud against Medi-Cal and our healthcare programs.” From 2014 to 2016, All Care One was paid more than $5 million for FPACT claims. It is estimated that more than
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