(Washington) A bill supposed to give parents more control over education in American public schools – a workhorse of Republicans but criticized by Democrats as an attempt at censorship – passed the House of Representatives on Friday.
“We believe parents have a right to know what their children are learning, how their tax dollars are being used,” Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said.
The elected official also attacked the Biden administration, which according to him treats the parents of students as “terrorists”.
This bill is part of a context of growing cultural polarization in the country. Schools, mirrors of the divided United States, have for several years been the scene of bitter clashes over the teaching of racism, history or sexuality.
However, it has very little chance of success. While the House is now controlled by Republicans, the Senate is still in Democratic hands.
However, the latter see in this project an attempt to censor works dealing with issues related to the LGBT community and minorities.
Books in hand in the hemicycle of the House of Representatives, the elected progressive Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had called this week to choose “freedom against fascism”, and to oppose the text.
According to the American Library Association, attempts to censor books have reached an all-time high in the United States.
