Des Moines, Iowa — A bill advanced by an Iowa Senate subcommittee would make it a serious misdemeanor for a teacher or school librarian to provide students with access to obscene material or hard-core pornography.
A conviction could land an educator in prison for up to a year. Senate President Jake Chapman, a Republican from Adel who is the bill’s sponsor, held up a photocopied page from an illustrated novel during a hearing at the statehouse.
Several parents who support the bill read passages from books they want removed from schools. Opponents of the bill say obscenity law requires a book to be judged as a whole and Melissa Peterson of the Iowa State Education Association says the bill is unnecessary.
The bill’s future is uncertain. Governor Reynolds has proposed a bill that would send parents’ complaints about school materials to the State Board of Education if a local school board fails to respond within 30 days. The governor’s bill also requires all the titles of books in school libraries to be posted on the school district’s website.
