Another week, another book banned from the classroom. Or not exactly banned - it remains available in school libraries - but the teacher who dared to teach it is suspended without pay for 18 months.
Now I haven't seen the book in question - or even Hilary Swank's heartwarming film version - but this time it's not scrotums, penguins or even Harry Potter, it's a bit of swearing.
The suspension of the teacher involved - apparently for "insubordination" - makes this one of the more serious cases. After all, of the 420 challenges to books reported to the American Library Association last year only (only!) 65 resulted in a book being pulled. But it's eerily familiar in one crucial aspect. According to union officials there was only one member of the school board who objected. It's the wishes of a vocal minority, and not the silent majority which are being respected once again.
