I recall discussions of book bans when I was in school many moons ago. Recollection is it made the books more attractive: they don’t want me to read this so I better go figure out why. 
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How could you call that anything other than a ban? Their Board of Education web page states that they chose to remove the book from all county schools and the curriculum - that is by definition a ban - and replace it with Night.
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Maus was removed from the required curriculum. 99.9999% of books are not on the required state curriculum. Students are free to read any of them if they wish, but are not required to do so.
By that logic, every single published work out there is in effect “banned” because it wasnt chosen to be included in the short list of required reading.
The website statement says the Board agrees that Maus is an important and impactful piece of literature, as are other works, and it prefers others to be required. What about that is a ban? Schools make these decisions daily-this book or that? Jane Austen is not required either; I don’t think Pride and Prejudice is banned as a result
If a teacher can’t choose to use it if they want to, then it’s a ban. If they could opt for it, then it’s not.
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Once again, their Board of Education website quite explicitly states that they removed the book from all schools AS WELL AS removing it from the curriculum. Not just the curriculum as you keep stating. Here is the exact quote:
“One of the most important roles of an elected board of education is to reflect the values of the community it serves. The McMinn County Board of Education voted to remove the graphic novel Maus from McMinn County Schools because of its unnecessary use of profanity and nudity and its depiction of violence and suicide.”
But this book wasn’t a book that was just out there as you hypothesize, that wasn’t on their reading list. It was part of their curriculum for years. But now certain people felt they had to remove it because of content. So, yes if a book has been on their curriculum for years, is a well-respected Pulitzer Prize winning novel but is suddenly removed from the curriculum and all schools in the county, by this board that gave the most idiotic reasons, that is by definition a ban. Now let’s talk about their reasons - the nudity is one frame of a naked mouse. A drawing of a naked anthropomorphized mouse. Additionally, a book about the holocaust depicting violence and suicide, really? Why isn’t it about roses and parades and puppies??? As for profanity, I guarantee the handful of profane words is nothing compared to what they hear on the playground.
The other insidious part of banning books is the old “you’re free to read it anyway” mantra. But for many people, libraries have always been their only affordable way to read books. If you take the books out of the schools and out of the libraries, then you are in effect taking away the freedom to read the book for many.
The only thing this board did right was replacing it with another classic. I am surprised they didn’t replace it with something idiotic and irrelevant like the Novelization of Air Bud.
No, Pride and Prejudice not being on their curriculum does not make it banned. It’s just not on the curriculum, but it is probably available in all of the school libraries. But, if (hypothetically) Pride and Prejudice is not on their curriculum because 50 years ago the board made a decision that books by authors named Jane shouldn’t be allowed in the curriculum or the libraries then yes, I would say it was banned. The absence doesn’t make it banned, it’s how Maus was removed and removed from all the schools and the libraries and the curriculum that makes it banned. The fact that what these school boards and states are really doing is trying to make the Holocaust palatable (violence and depression in a book about the holocaust???) like they are trying to make slavery just something that sort of happened a long long time ago, but everybody was happy and so on. Certain people are trying to rewrite American and world history and book banning is one of their most effective tools for that.
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But I want to get back to something Parentologist said about how dumbed down reading for kids has become…
I think this could be a symptom of the book banning culture. Anything that might cause people to think or might be a little uncomfortable gets banned either vocally like is being done all over the place now (and always really) or quietly. I actually think the quietly is the more dangerous. What happened to all the classics on the high school reading lists? Why aren’t there new classics on the high school reading lists? My D22 is graduating in 4 weeks. She has been accepted to some of the best universities in the country and she never read (in school) most of what were considered the classics that I read and most of our generation read when we were in high school or even middle school. (Granted - I live in a different state then where I grew up, so I dont know if it is a symptom of where I live now, or everywhere.) It isn’t like they were replaced with modern classics either; they were replaced with garbage or no reading at all most of the time. In 10th grade she was reading books in Pre-AP English (assigned reading) approved by the state I am sure, about 100 pages long, with font big enough for a 6-year-old to read, of the most ridiculous books I have ever seen. I saw this all through middle school too - childish books with no substance at all. The only classics she has read (either old, or new) - she has read on her own - books like Gatsby, Lord of the Flies, Catcher in the Rye, the Hate You Give, multiple Vonnegut books, others, those are just the ones that come to mind quickly. She has never read a full Shakespeare play for that matter - probably banned for content. Certainly, never read Chaucer - and I never heard her mention any poets, like Tennyson, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson (tons more) or certainly not Sylvia Plath! So, is this just here? Or are students just not reading anything good anywhere anymore? If so, was this a silent shift (or silent banning) of books? I know I have spoken to people in other districts here and the reading is just as bad and I have asked some friends in other states - and the same, but I dont know if it is everywhere.
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Reading has been dumbed down for more than 10 years, per the teachers I know. Smartphones were introduced in 2007. Students stopped reading largely thereafter. Nothing to do with banning. Many students use cliff notes or the equivalent instead of reading the actual book now, and apparently schools let this occur.
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I wonder if states like Florida or Texas would ban, Becoming Dr Q - My Journey from Migrant Farm Worker to Brain Surgeon. It’s the autobiography of an illegal alien from Mexico who went on to do so much good for so many people. From a grammar perspective it’s probably not the best choice, but for an “understanding people” perspective it’s terrific. I know several kids at our school like, and can be inspired by, the book whether born in another country or not.
https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Dr-Journey-Migrant-Surgeon-ebook/dp/B005I5R1AY
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My kids had a bit of the classics and Shakespeare in school, but I also “encouraged” (translate - forced) them to read some of the best outside of school. Only one (the hyperverbal one) is still a big reader. OTOH, I also supplemented math, science, foreign language outside of school, so it wasn’t just reading that was subpar. The public school really didn’t offer much until high school, at which point they had some excellent AP classes.
I’m curious if it’s any different in the top private schools.
Some experience in a top private here. Yes, they expected a solid grounding in the canon. Lots of experience reading literature and writing about it.
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The public schools never even asked them to write a paper comparing how, say, two books approached a similar topic. At most, they asked them to compare a book to a painting, or to a movie, or a popular song, or a poem, if any of them knew what a poem was. God forbid they should be expected to read TWO books!
The shocker was, when they gave my kid three academic papers and told them to write a 5 page synthetic analysis in order to place out of the first level of writing at a tippy-top, kid placed right out of it. They must have taught SOMETHING at the public school!
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Or the kid could do it regardless of what was taught in school. That happens too.
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And add in CA, NY, NY, CT under this definition
Check out the SF boards suggested high school reading list. Some are fine books, but I wouldnt say any are considered classics or great literature
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Oh really? They’re banning books? I would love to see a link showing that.
Our public schools did. And they started early on…in upper elementary school.
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Our school did as well.
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Do you think Huckleberry Finn is allowed to be taught anywhere anymore? Notable American authors call it a seminal piece of literature. It once was taught. I am not sad that it is banned, but acknowledge that is exactly what occurred. How about Uncle Tom’s Cabin? The book had a profound impact on popular opinion in mid 19th century US, and thus could be considered pivotal in importance at the time. Again, not sad it is banned, but recognize what is happening. Millions of girls read Laura Ingells Wilder in school. Not now. That may be fine, but at least acknowledge it
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Texas, PA and Florida - the big three for banning books in public schools. After them Oklahoma is a distant fourth.
We had some parents in our PA district trying to get books banned but they just didn’t have the numbers, thankfully.
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We had both of those books in our home. Our kids read them both.
There is nothing to prevent families from providing a variety of literature for reading.
It’s not like the banned books are out of print.
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