Nine Governors Join Governor Murphy in Opposing Censorship of School Textbooks

Posted July 19, 2023

Following news of textbook publishers agreeing to censor their educational materials at the behest of state governments like Florida, nine governors joined New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy in sending publishing companies a letter to make it clear that censorship will not be supported in schools in each of their states and territories.

In the letter, the ten governors emphasized their belief that censored materials negatively impact core educational goals and values. They urged each publisher to “hold the line for our democracy” and emphasized the negative impact censorship has on students – especially those who are already marginalized and underrepresented – and our society as a whole. “Our country’s future is at stake,” wrote the governors in their letter. “You hold enormous influence in shaping how our great nation’s history is told, and the consequences of your actions will reverberate for generations to come…Sanitizing our educational texts for the mercurial comfort of a few today ultimately limits the next generation’s ability to make informed decisions for themselves.” In addition to urging each publisher not to give into political pressure to censor K-12 textbooks if they haven’t already, the governors made it clear that their administrations would be working with school districts to ensure they are fully informed about which texts have inappropriately censored material as opposed to those that provide comprehensive and accurate information. The governors who signed onto the letter are:

• Governor Phil Murphy, State of New Jersey

• Governor John Carney, State of Delaware

• Governor J.B. Pritzker, State of Illinois

• Governor Wes Moore, State of Maryland

• Governor Maura Healey, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

• Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, State of New Mexico

• Governor Kathy Hochul, State of New York

• Governor Dan McKee, State of Rhode Island

• Governor Albert Bryan, Territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands

• Governor Jay Inslee, State of Washington

The letter was sent to nine publishers who sell K-12 textbooks and educational materials, as well as the Association of American Publishers, which represents the leading book, journal, and education publishers in the United States. The publishing companies that received the letter are:

• Cengage Learning

• Goodheart-Willcox

• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

• McGraw Hill Education

• Pearson

• Routledge Taylor and Francis Group

• Savvas Learning Co.

• Scholastic

• Teachers Curriculum Institute

The full letter can be read here.