"Tom Sawyer" Is No Longer A Must-Read In Cedar Rapids Schools

Via email from a reader, and in today's Cedar Rapids Gazette:

Mark Twain's classic American tale, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," won't be taught to all the eighth graders in Cedar Rapids schools this year out of concern the book's language and racial issues might be inappropriate for middle school students.

Copies of the book for all the eighth-graders had been purchased at a cost of $5,000, but three administrators on Jan. 10 pulled the text from the must-read list.

Ann Elmborg, the district's secondary language arts facilitator, said teachers last spring selected "Tom Sawyer" for all the eighth graders to read this year.

But Elmborg said she re-read the book in January and went to her supervisors -- Sandy Stephen and Christine Rauscher -- with her concerns. They elected to pull the book as required reading; other novels will be substituted.

"Tom Sawyer" remains on library shelves, and students can read the novel on their own or self-select the book for small group discussion, Elmborg said.

In retrospect, Elmborg said, the process of selecting "Tom Sawyer" as the district's "common novel" was rushed, and her error, she said, was in not re-reading the book before the books were bought.

"It was my oversight," she said. "When I re-read it recently, I discovered it troubling, not only language, but depictions of African Americans."

Oh, gee whiz, not again.

What kind of backwards-ass losers with too many degrees are running that school district?

Down here in Kansas, the politician named Tom Sawyer was a bit of a blessing, especially after he beat out Fred "God Hates Fags" Phelps for the Democratic nomination for governor in 1998.