By DAVID BOYLE
March 5, 2026 – Sen. Scott Kawasaki (D, Fairbanks) introduced SB 238 which he misrepresents as the “Freedom to Read Act.” A more accurate title would be the “Protect Librarians, Not Children Act.”
Kawasaki says his bill has three major objectives: Create a statewide policy; provide protections for school employees, librarians, and museum employees; and empower parents.
Let’s look at the first objective: to create a statewide policy. Whenever I hear about K12 education policy from the education industry, it’s always about local control. This states that the local community and school boards know what’s best for their children. Why then should the legislature want to create a broad brush “statewide policy”? What may be considered obscene content in the MatSu Borough School District may not be obscene in the Juneau Borough School District.
Even the US Supreme Court in its Miller v. California decision stated that it allows for “community standards” to be applied when determining what is obscene and what is not. The SCOTUS further said that what is considered obscene can vary by location. So much for Senator Kawasaki’s “statewide policy.”
The bill’s second objective is to protect school employees including librarians. Why does this bill only protect government employees such as school librarians? Once again, the minority will be “protected” at the cost of our children’s minds. The bill provides absolutely no protections for younger students from accessing obscene materials.
The liability protections for government employees resembles the liability protections for Big Pharma, which cannot be sued for its various vaccines harming individuals.
The third objective of SB238 is to empower parents. The only empowering allows parents and students to sue “if library material is unduly censored.” Nowhere are parents allowed to sue if obscene material is available to very young students.
Sen. Kawaski maintains that this bill empowers parents. Nowhere does the bill give parents any rights. On the contrary, parental permission is not required for minor children to have access to obscene materials. All parental rights to raise their children are taken away.
This bill kicks parents to the proverbial curb and negates their parental authority, replacing it with governmental authority. It states “Access to library materials must not be restricted, and parental permission is NOT required for minors.”
Wow! As a parent who is responsible for my child’s education and moral development, I am supposed to submit to the state to pollute my child’s mind with things I don’t agree with? It seems as if parents should only be involved when it comes to the blame for low student achievement scores, not for accessing obscene library books.
In a Nov. 16, 2023, letter, former Attorney General Treg Taylor advised Alaska schools and public libraries that there are prohibitions regarding providing sexual content to minors. These are:
*Distribution of Indecent Material to Minors, AS 11.61.128
*Enticement of a Minor, AS 11.41.452.
*Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor, AS 11.51.130
Taylor noted that “Harmful to Minors” means that the average individual, applying “contemporary community standards” would find material appeals to prurient interest in sex for persons younger than16 years. Once again, “local control” versus State policy determines obscenity.
Taylor also gave a warning to schools and libraries, “there are no exceptions to any of the laws listed for administrators, teachers or for librarians”.
So, this group of public employees cannot be exempted from the law, contradicting Sen. Kawasaki’s bill language.
If this bill passes and becomes law, many more parents will remove their children from Alaska’s public schools, as well they should. Parents are responsible for their children’s moral development – not the government. Our expectations for sending our children to public school are that they learn to read, write, and do math.
Alaska’s public schools don’t need to lose any more students.
You can provide your written belief and opinion at Senate.Education@akleg.gov.
David Boyle is a longtime Alaskan who writes on education topics for The Alaska Story.
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3 thoughts on “David Boyle: Sen. Kawasaki’s legislation protects librarians and teachers … but not children”
Parents can just dis-enroll their children from AK school districts. Grandparents are already getting involved in helping their grandkids parents paying for private schools even homeschooling.
Blunt honesty again
AK school districts and Ak dept of education , nea, teachers will never see they need changing. But AK parents kids are getting older. If parents don’t take more control of their childrens education direction. You either will be taking care of your child a lot longer than 19 years or burying them while they are still young adults because You failed to prepare them how to live as an adult. education is life and death issue . Alaska education is far below competency levels and it isn’t improving just like Ak young adult and youth lives and opportunities are not improving on Alaska.
A problem with Alaska current community leaders of its departments, organizations is they lack honesty and the courage to really be honest with one another like telling one another (in love) when the methods and leadership one is using is making them a failure.
I tell it like it is “Ak teachers All of them including the Christian and Republican leaning teachers they are mediocre and failing the next generation after parents who don’t know any better have entrusted their family’s next generation in the care of the teachers their child will be around for five days a week from 6-8 hours.”
When looking for a babysitter I didn’t trust anyone an Alaska school district employee hires. That’s how low your school district standards of character of people.
*Blunt and Straight.
Someone needs to find out why Mr. Kawasaki thinks kids need to look at porn. Has anyone asked him directly? Sounds like a typical groomer.