Banning books in George County
By By Terry Cassreino / assistant managing editor
Jan. 26, 2003
If you want to see what's wrong with public education in Mississippi, look no further than George County, where the school board has re-entered the Dark Ages.
Board members, in their infinite wisdom, banned three books including John Steinbeck's 1937 Depression-era classic "Of Mice and Men."
Forget the fact that Steinbeck, one of the most celebrated American authors of the last century, won the Pulitzer Prize for "The Grapes of Wrath."
Don't even mention that Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962, in which he was honored for writings that contained a keen social perception.
None of that mattered to George County School Board members. They were more concerned with protecting the county's children from the evils of the world.
In spite of the strides Mississippi has made during the last 10 years in public education, the George County decision is a setback. It's also indicative of problems that still plague public schools.
Mississippi has struggled for years with an inadequate and underfunded public education system, one that sometimes lacks the support of the general public.
Edge of greatness
The state has had its share of successes including highly regarded public schools in Harrison, Jackson and Lee counties to name a few.
At the same time, however, it has had to deal with problems that have held it back and kept it from the edge of greatness. And many could be easily remedied.
Consider this: Professionals can't readily teach in elementary school or high school unless they follow a series of strict rules that are difficult at best. That means students can't get one-on-one instruction from key professionals. Accountants can't teach math, writers can't teach grammar, doctors can't teach biology.
Or consider this: Many counties elect both their school superintendent and members of their school board, creating the question of who's accountable to whom. Electing a superintendent also presents another problem: It's possible that voters may choose among candidates with little or no education experience.
There is hope on the horizon, however.
For years, state lawmakers have waited until the waning days of their annual legislative session to fund public education after they've funded everything else.
This year, for the first time, state House and Senate members appear ready to adequately fund education first and then take care of other state budgetary needs.
Students deprived
If that happens, it would be a major accomplishment and victory for education. But it wouldn't do anything to change the book ban in George County.
What the George County board has done is deprive their public school students of an opportunity to read and study one of the great works of modern American fiction.
Indeed, George County has joined an exclusive club of school districts that have banned such classics as J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye" and Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."
School board members voted last week to create a committee "made up of a true representation of this county" to review concerns or complaints about supplementary books and materials in the classroom.
But don't be surprised if the board maintains its ban and, in the end, strengthens the stereotypical view of Mississippi as the nation's most backward state.
Said Tim Welford, the board's president: "We are a small, Christian-oriented, Bible Belt community with strong religious convictions. We believe that the majority of our community agrees with us."
