A project of the National Coalition Against Censorship

CO-SPONSORED BY
American Booksellers for Free Expression
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
Association of American Publishers

October 28, 2015

Mrs. Michele Sinclair
Principal
Mattoon High School
2521 Walnut Ave.
Mattoon, IL 61938
Via email: msinclair@mattoon.k12.il.us

Dear Principal Sinclair,

As organizations dedicated to the freedom to read, the integrity of the public education system, and the
application of First Amendment law and principles in public institutions, we are writing to express our
concern regarding the removal of Jonathan Safran Foers Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close from the
Mattoon High School curriculum, and about plans to implement a policy to notify parents when any book
contains adult content.
According to press reports, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was pulled from the High School Honors
English III classroom after parents complained about supposedly vulgar sexual passages and
pornographic content. The justification for the removal was that parents were not given an opt-out form,
so administrators didnt really feel like [they] had a lot of alternatives. We also understand that the school
intends to implement a new procedure that will explain to parents the pedagogical rationale for including
individual books in the curriculum, and specifying whether a book includes any adult content.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was shortlisted for the 2007 International IMPAC Dublin Literary
Award, and was on the American Library Associations 2009 list of Outstanding Books for the College
Bound. Booklist says the book, narrated by nine-year-old Oskar Schell, is arrestingly beautiful, and readers
wont soon forget the protagonist through his journey to unlock a mystery after his father dies in the World
Trade Center on 9/11. Library Journal highly recommends the book, saying that Foers excellent second
novel vibrates with the details of a current tragedy but successfully explores the universal questions that
trauma brings on its floodtide."
Removing a book with recognized literary and pedagogical meritone that has been taught for several years
and is listed on the Mattoon Community District #2s curriculum listsimply because some disapprove of it
not only disserves the educational interests of students but also raises serious constitutional concerns.
Government officials, including public school administrators, may not prohibit the expression of an idea
simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable. Texas v. Johnson (1989); see also
Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District No. 26 v. Pico (1982) (local school boards
may not remove books simply because they dislike the ideas contained in these books.)

Indeed, removing material in response to objections to content or ideas may make a school district
vulnerable to legal challenge. Compare Monteiro v. Tempe Union High School District (9th Cir. 1998)
recognizing the First Amendment right of students to read books selected for their legitimate educational
value even if offensive to some parents and studentswith Pratt v. Independent School Dist. No. 831 (8th
Cir. 1982) and Case v. Unified School Dist. No 233 (D. Kan. 1995), in which it was stated that the First
Amendment was violated by removing material because of hostility to content and message.
Decisions about instructional materials should be based on sound educational grounds, not on an individuals
or groups agreement or disagreement with the message or content of a particular book. This approach is
consistent with constitutional and educational principles and will serve the interests of both Mattoon High
School and its students. Every community is home to a diversity of opinions on moral and religious
questions; for every parent who objects to an assigned book there will be others who favor it. In practice, the
attempt to alter school curricula in response to individual objections means privileging the moral or religious
beliefs of some families over others. It is precisely this form of viewpoint discrimination by government
officials that our constitutional system is designed to prevent.
In fact, there are already sufficient policies to accommodate certain parental concerns. According to Mattoon
Community Unit School District #2 Policy 6.260, A parent/guardian may request that his/her child be
exempt from using a particular instructional material or program by completing a curriculum objection form
and using the Uniform Grievance Procedure. This is an adequate and educationally sound response to a
parent who objects to a book assigned to his or her child. It is unclear why the policy was not implemented in
the current case; offering an alternative to those who complain is less disruptive than pulling the book from
the whole class.
We appreciate the plan to provide a rationale explaining how and why each book is used, as well as the
pedagogical purposes these materials serve within the curriculum, as recommended by the National Council
of Teachers of English. However, while parents have a right to stay informed about material that is being
taught, flagging books for adult content creates the wrong impression that a book is somehow dangerous
and damaging. Complaining parents should base their objections on the book as a whole and not be invited
by the very teachers who considered the book to be educationally valuableto focus on the adult or
objectionable lines it may contain.
We urge you to demonstrate your commitment to recognized constitutional and educational principles, as
well as to the Districts own policy, by restoring Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close to the 11th grade
curriculum. In the future, we hope you follow a procedure which, while recognizing the right of parents to be
informed of the curriculum, emphasizes the educational imperative to offer students materials of high
pedagogical value that deeply engage curious young minds.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,

Svetlana Mintcheva, Director of Programs

National Coalition Against Censorship

Chris Finan, Director

American Booksellers for Free Expression

Judy Platt, Director

Free Expression Advocacy
Association of American Publishers

Charles Brownstein, Executive Director

Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

Millie Davis, Director

Intellectual Freedom Center
National Council of Teachers of English

Lin Oliver, Executive Director

Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators

Barbara M. Jones, Director

Office of Intellectual Freedom
American Library Association

CC: Superintendent Larry D. Lilly: ldlilly@mattoon.k12.il.us

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