SAN ANTONIO — North East Independent School District, located in San Antonio, has pulled more than 400 books from its libraries for review following an inquiry by Republican state Rep. Matt Krause.
According to reports, including one from NBC News, the district said it identified 414 books in its possession included in a list of about 850 targeted by Krause.
However, according to a report from the San Antonio Express-News, the district says the review process started prior to Krause’s inquiry.
The district in a statement to NBC News said it is reviewing the books “out of an abundance of caution” and is specifically looking for books that contain “obscene or vulgar” material.
The district indicated that not all of the books currently under review will be removed.
A petition opposing the district’s book review has been created and as of Thursday morning had more than 2,600 signatures.
Krause, who chairs the House Committee on General Investigating, in October sent a letter to Texas Education Agency Deputy Commissioner of School Programs Lily Laux and numerous school district superintendents that identifies books concerning racism and sexuality, among other topics.
READ: The 850 books included in Rep. Krause's letter
The letter includes books that don’t appear to fall into those categories, however. In the letter, Krause said he wishes to know how many copies of the books schools have and how much was spent on them.
Among the numerous titles are “Everything You Need to Know About Going to the Gynecologist” by Shifra Diamond, “Teen Suicide” by Roleff L. Tamara, “The Black Power Movement and Civil Unrest” by Kerry Hinton and “Harvey Milk: The First Openly Gay Elected Official in the United States” by Barbara Gottfried Hollander.
The presidents of the Texas American Federation of Teachers and the Texas State Teachers Association issued strong condemnations of the move, saying it is massive political overreach and tantamount to censorship.
“What does he need this list for? Is it to burn the books later? Is it to block the books? It’s just one step into censorship,” said Ovidia Molina, president of the Texas State Teachers Association.
Molina pointed toward Krause’s campaign for attorney general as the motivation behind the investigation. Krause has since dropped out of the race for attorney general and is pursuing the office of Tarrant County district attorney.
“It is just something that a representative is using for political gain. They're not thinking about what our students need, they're not thinking about the professionalism of our educators, they're not supporting our public schools. They're just using this to make a name for themselves,” she said.
Molina expressed concern that if the investigation leads to action like potentially banning the books on the list, it could significantly reduce the diversity of literature students are exposed to.
“The majority of the authors in this list are authors of color, topics about race, topics about things that our students are going through. And so it's something that is not just an attack on our teachers and their professionalism - you know, they go to school and they have curriculum that is grade appropriate, and we go through this process of planning and prepping - but it's also an attack on our students who will not be able to see themselves in the stories that they read,” Molina said.