No Commie Books In Schools

The Miami-Dade County School District, which by the way was recently selected as one of five most-improved school districts in the country, plans to remove copies of a book containing themes from Cuba's communist regime.

School officials said they would pull a book with pictures of a Cuban communist youth group from grade school library shelves.

BY PETER BAILEY

pbailey@MiamiHerald.com

A children's book may be removed from dozens of elementary school libraries throughout the district because it contains themes from Cuba's communist regime.

The book, Vamos a Cuba (A Visit to Cuba), is available at 33 schools, district officials say.

A portrait of kids outfitted as Pioneers -- Cuba's communist youth group -- is emblazoned across the book's cover. Inside pages show scenes of a joyous carnival held on July 26, the anniversary of the Cuban revolution.

After seeing the book, the parent of a Marjory Stoneman Douglas Elementary student promptly contacted officials at the West Miami-Dade school.

''The parent was offended with the book's content,'' district spokesman Joseph Garcia said Wednesday. ``We're following School Board procedure to have the book removed from library shelves.''

First, a committee at the school will review the book's material, followed by district officials. If it's determined that censoring the book will not infringe on a student's right to a well-rounded education, a ruling will then be made on removing it.

Staff is following approved School Board rules to remove the book from all libraries.''In a memo sent Tuesday to board members, Superintendent Rudy Crew outlined his concerns: ``The book has content and pictures that are reflective of the current Communist regime.

Garcia said this is the first time he is aware of school officials removing a book for those reasons.

The book was reviewed by a number of journals, including Publisher's Weekly. It is available through the Miami-Dade public library system, Garcia said.

The book is part of a travel series by Heinemann/Raintree, a Chicago-based publishing house that specializes in nonfiction books for classrooms and school libraries.

Officials at the publishing house say they were unaware of the controversy, but will investigate the district's concerns.

'We care greatly about our customers' concerns and we will look into this matter,'' said executive editor Tracey Crawford.

The publisher's website says the series is intended to help readers understand what it's like to be a child in another land. The books are geared toward children ages 5-7 in grades K-2. Other titles include A Visit to Colombia, A Visit to Costa Rica and A Visit to Puerto Rico.

I'm sure some will see this as censorship. I see it as a group of parents concerned about what their children are being exposed to - standing up and making their voices heard. The school board is under no obligation to take the parents' advice. Frankly, communist propaganda, especially coming from Cuba, has no business whatsoever in our schools.

Here's a deal...if some people insist on keeping the books on the shelves, fine. But they also need to make sure that the other side of the story is available in those same schools.