ABSTRACT
Diane Ravitch, in her book The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn (2003), argues that political groups from both the right and the left strongly affect what is taught in schools. Some of this influence takes the form of censorship, which Ravitch says occurs when school officials fear controversy from sources such as parents or the community. While right-wing groups sought to ban books from the curriculum and from school libraries for objectionable content, the left argued just as strongly that the curriculum be politically correct. These tensions have caused great difficulties for textbook companies, which must attempt to placate both sides or risk bankruptcy. Ravitch characterizes these pressures as “pernicious and pervasive” (Ravitch, 2003, p. 159) in that they limit students’ exposure to the world of ideas.
