A Cave-In in Capistrano

The school textbook-ban controversy arrived in--and departed from--Orange County without much fanfare. Fundamentalist Christian parents in the Capistrano Unified School District had barely started what promised to be loud protests about books they don’t like when the district caved in and abandoned their use.

The reading texts, which the parents’ group said were too graphic and promoted the work of the devil, were among four state-approved reading books being evaluated in a handful of Capistrano Unified’s elementary school classrooms. Supt. Jerome Thornsley said there were other good choices, and some misgivings about the books by what he called “reasonable parents,” so he decided to pull the texts.

The school board did not object, but It should have. Capistrano’s trustees should have followed the lead of school trustees in Yucaipa who, last December, voted to keep the same books despite protests.

The books in question are the “Impressions” series published by Holt, Rinehart & Winston. They are widely used, and widely praised, in Canada and Australia, where teachers reported that students who were uninterested in reading are clamoring for the books. The texts were the subject of an organized attack by Citizens for Excellence in Education, a nationwide Christian fundamentalist group whose local group, Parents for Quality Education, led the fight in Capistrano Unified. Partly as a result of the attack, the publisher is revising the texts.

The “Impressions” series is part of a growing effort in education to find stories more interesting than “Dick and Jane” for children to learn to read. The series is based in children’s literature, which has a sometimes macabre twist even in such accepted classics as “Hansel and Gretel” and “Cinderella.” Still, whole generations have grown up on such tales, which child psychologists say help children develop a love of reading and learn to deal with their natural fears. For generations, the stories have also taught children about good and evil, or generosity and stinginess.

It is a shame that all it took was a little saber-rattling by these parents to get administrators and school board members to back down on the books even before they were given a fair evaluation in the classroom.

Capistrano Unified has, in the past, stood up to attacks from a small group of ultraconservatives over such issues as sex education. It should have this time, too.