Controversial books are nothing new, but the incidence of book challenges and bans has increased substantially in recent years.

This week marks the American Library Association's annual Banned Books Week and this year's theme is "Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us."

The association's polling on the issue showed 71% of Americans oppose efforts to remove books from public libraries, and 67% oppose efforts to remove books from school libraries.

Andrea Boothby Rice, chair of the Intellectual Freedom Panel for the Maryland Library Association, said while the state has not seen a large increase in book challenges, some programs have been challenged.

"In Maryland we've seen some of those where LGBTQ programs have taken place and individuals who live outside the counties -- that's not their local library that it's happening at -- are showing up and trying to have the events canceled," Boothby Rice observed.

More information on the association's initiative to fight censorship is online at uniteagainstbookbans.org.

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom for the American Library Association, which has tracked book censorship for decades, said organized political groups who advocate censorship are involved in efforts to influence school boards and library boards, sending motivated voices to speak to elected officials. Officeholders facing book challenges often end up listening to the people speaking out at public meetings, but when opponents of censorship make their voices heard, things can go differently.

"When there are others in the room speaking out against censorship, speaking out in favor of having a wide variety of books available for young people to read, for the community to read, then we often see efforts to remove books fail," Caldwell-Stone pointed out.

She added writing an email to the library board or sending a letter with another supporter to be read at a meeting may also give busy people a way to make their voices heard.

Over her career, Caldwell-Stone has seen the kinds of books being challenged expand. She said books containing profanity or coming-of-age stories with accounts of first sexual experiences have often been challenged, but in recent years challenges have taken on additional political dimensions.

"When you look at the books that are challenged, you're seeing books that have no sexual content at all but advance different narratives around our history with racism or the lives and experiences of LGBTQIA persons," Caldwell-Stone explained.

The association estimates 82% and 97% of book challenges go unreported.

As the school year ends, Connecticut's teacher shortage seems to have only worsened.

In March, school districts across the state reported having 2,600 vacancies for teachers and paraeducators, leading to increased class sizes, which causes educators to get burned out more quickly.

A 2022 survey from the Connecticut Education Association found 74% of educators are more likely to leave the profession or retire early.

Kate Dias, president of the Connecticut Education Association, noted a problem once affecting higher-need districts is afflicting every district in the state.

"The vacancies are now leading to school closures, and that's where we are seeing sort of an uptick in, 'Well, we can't actually staff our school today,'" Dias observed. "That's a real problem that I don't see getting better without a significant intervention."

Long-term state-level solutions include apprenticeship programs established by the state's Department of Education and Gov. Ned Lamont.

Dias argued barriers to becoming a teacher in the state need to be removed and wages need to be raised for teachers. A 2023 survey showed 65% of voters in the state feel teachers are not paid enough.

One challenge Dias emphasized is making sure funding is spent in the right place to bring about much-needed changes. She noted providing aspiring teachers with some kind of incentive could help alleviate the shortage.

"To solve the problem today is about how do we attract people to this profession, career changers? How do we convince people that this is a really viable and important profession?" Dias asked. "Come here and work. So, it's attracting people from out of state and attracting second-career educators."

She added the state needs to utilize a workforce shift to its benefit in hiring teachers. Other factors leading to a decline in teachers include high college costs. A 2019 Center for American Progress report found growing costs caused enrollment in teacher programs to drop by more than a third between 2010 and 2018.

Navigating college can seem overwhelming for first generation students, but an early outreach program at Arizona State University aims to change it.

The Hispanic Mother-Daughter Program is for middle and high school students going on to higher education. Although the program was created in 1984 to increase postsecondary education rates among Latinas, the university said today, neither gender nor ethnicity are considerations, only whether the student is the first in their family to go on to college.

Stephany Hernandez, a recent high school graduate, said the initiative has provided her the guidance and information she needed to feel more prepared.

"I didn't really know where to start with the college-going process," Hernandez acknowledged. "'Middle school me,' I wasn't very sure where to go. Where should I look? Where should I begin?"

Hernandez explained the program has helped her understand the requirements and steps necessary to be accepted into Arizona State. The Hispanic Mother-Daughter Program is one element leading to the university to be named a Hispanic-Serving Institution last year, meaning at least 25% of the full-time undergraduate student body is Hispanic.

Parents and students attend monthly workshops at the university and work with mentors during the five-year program. Hernandez added the way the program functions has had the side benefit of bringing her closer to her mom, and both are excited about what lies ahead.

"The Hispanic Mother-Daughter Program has impacted my life mostly through bonding more with my mom, so we both can understand what I want for my future and what she wants for my future," Hernandez concluded.

The university said students in the seventh grade are encouraged to apply. Recruitment cycles are open year-round.


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A proposal from the federal government could provide a better path toward student loan debt repayment, but a new survey finds many borrowers don't know about this option.

While the fate of the Biden Administration's debt erasure plan is in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court, income driven repayment plans offer a next best option for former students. Through such plans, people pay based on their income rather than the amount they borrowed.

Lane Thompson, student loan ombuds for the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation, said a proposal from the U.S. Department of Education would make this type of plan even more attractive.

"Let people keep a higher percentage of their earned income, be a smaller percentage of monthly income and allow for forgiveness after 10 years, rather than 20 or 25," Thompson outlined.

However, a survey from New America found the people who would benefit most from income driven repayment plans do not know they exist. According to the report, more than 40% of low income borrowers had not heard of the plans.

Thompson stressed it is a problem.

"It really is an issue that more folks don't know about these," Thompson noted. "I think it would be to the benefit of everybody if we knew more about the income driven repayment plans, as borrowers."

Thompson added borrowers also should know about the Fresh Start program. The temporary program gets people out of default and removes the default from their credit report. Borrowers need to contact their loan provider to access the program.

Loan repayment is likely to begin later this summer.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


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