Laura Strickler is a senior investigative producer and reporter for NBC News. She is based in Washington.
Scholastic has reversed a decision to allow school districts running book fairs to opt in or out of selling a grouping of books with diverse titles about race and gender after facing widespread criticism, including from those in the publishing industry, educators and parents. The children’s book publisher had grouped 64 titles, which feature Black and brown community themes and LGBTQ+ characters, as optional, citing legislation in more than 30 states restricting what content students can access.
A company spokesperson said that, as of last week, thousands of school districts had made a decision about whether to opt out of the 64 books, but declined to provide specific breakdowns. Each year, there are more than 120,000 Scholastic book fairs across the country. The diversity case will be discontinued starting in January, the company said.
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