Some Education Issues Don't Belong in Court

Courts aren’t the best venues for consideration of nuanced issues. The law doesn’t accommodate shades of gray; it demands yes-or-no answers that can have ramifications far beyond the facts of an individual dispute. Two cases currently before the Supreme Court involving education and religion illustrate the potential pitfalls of turning to the legal system to resolve complex questions.

One, Mahmoud v. Taylor, was brought by parents who object to picture books with LGBTQ themes used to teach reading in public elementary schools in Montgomery County, MD. I’ve looked at a few of the books in dispute, and while I would have no problem having my own children exposed to them—if my children were still in elementary school, which they are not—I can understand why the books might make families with more culturally conservative views uncomfortable.

One of the books, My Rainbow, is about a transgender girl. Another, Love, Violet, is about a little girl who develops a crush on a female classmate. According to the school district’s brief, others involve “a niece meeting her uncle’s husband-to-be, a prince falling in love with a knight as they battle a dragon …, and a transgender boy sharing his gender identity with his family.” The parents’ brief describes others, including one that “invites children to ponder what it means to be ‘transgender’ or ‘non-binary,’” and another about a child whose pronouns change “depending on how I feel.”

The parents who brought the lawsuit—some Muslim, some Christian—argue that the content of the books conflicts with their religious beliefs.They’re not asking the district to eliminate the books from the curriculum but rather to let them opt their children out of lessons when the books are used for instruction. State law provides for the right to such opt-outs, but only in sex education classes.

In this case, the school district has argued, the books aren’t being used to teach about gender or sexuality or to advocate any particular views. Rather, according to its brief, they’re being used to “foster and enhance literacy skills.” My Rainbow, for example, is supposed to teach children “how to identify the theme of a story and summarize the supporting details and ideas.” But if that’s the case, why not use books that are less controversial? (I’ll leave to one side the point that trying to teach these kinds of reading comprehension skills