‘… it has broader social costs as well’: Schools spent $3 billion last school year battling security threats, lawsuits, and staff turnover related to book bans
Last school year, schools in the U.S. spent a staggering $3 billion on costs related to book bans and culture wars, including lawsuits, security measures, and high turnover rates.
The steep financial costs are one aspect of book banning that isn’t always visible to the public. However, the costs are exorbitant. Last year, 15 people drained $72,000 worth of library funds at St. Tammany Parish Library by going on a book-banning spree and filing dozens of complaints each. After all, it’s estimated that schools can spend up to $100 per complaint, and when you have serial book banners, like Bruce Friedman, challenging 900 books each, the costs add up fast. However, the labor and resources involved in processing complaints, reviewing books, and complying with book-banning legislation are just one of many costs. Legal fees are another major cost as school districts infringe on students’ and parents’ rights by taking it upon themselves to decide what people can read, and are increasingly being hit with lawsuits. Districts like Llano County have accumulated over $200,000 in legal fees for refusing to accept a judge’s ruling that it must return a handful of books to library shelves.
Recently, a study into the fiscal cost of book bans and culture wars found other sources of costs, including schools having to bulk up security and dealing with high turnover due to violent threats and harassment.
The high costs of book bans and culture wars
Researchers from UCLA, the University of Texas at Austin, American University, and UC Riverside recently published “The Costs of Conflict, The Fiscal Impact of Culturally Divisive Conflicts on Public Schools in the United States.” The study examines the cost of “culturally divisive conflicts” in public schools, including book bans, challenges to curriculum, and policies regarding LGBTQ+ students. It found that cultural conflicts cost U.S. school districts a combined $3.2 billion.
As mentioned above, part of the costs were related to security. Conflicts about book bans and school policies have increasingly grown violent as conservatives rely on threats, harassment, and intimidation to get their way. In a Colorado school district, conservatives sent bomb threats to three elementary schools over claims that children had access to LGBTQ+ books. Schools have to respond to these threats or the possibility of such threats, and it’s not cheap. One anonymous school superintendent told researchers his mid-sized district spent $100,000 hiring off-duty officers because “people coming to the board meetings are unpredictable and sometimes violent.” The same school district spent over $500,000 in legal fees over a lawsuit due to a board member’s campaign against the LGBTQ+ community.
However, the largest cost the survey found was actually those related to turnover. Some educators are leaving because they disagree with schools’ discriminatory or dystopian policies, while others feel the harassment, death threats, and scrutiny they face for doing their jobs isn’t worth it. School districts of 10,000 students could be spending up to $461,000 on recruitment, staff absenteeism, and other expenses related to high turnover. A superintendent confirmed to researchers that many school staff members are under immense stress as “they navigate imaginary slights and online drama in the community.” Considering 50% of superintendents surveyed reported experiencing harassment during the school year, 10% had faced violent threats, and 11% had their properties vandalized, it’s no surprise that high turnover rates are plaguing districts.
John Rogers, the study’s lead researcher, warned that these conflicts have “broader social costs as well,” including the “undermining of social trust,” raising stress levels, and fundamentally impacting how educators and students experience school. Unfortunately, Rogers also paints a grim portrait of the future, warning that Donald Trump’s presidency will likely further inspire conservatives to launch attacks on public schools and foster these book bans and other costly conflicts. It’s striking that many people in this country would prefer to drive the school system to the ground by draining all its resources rather than allowing kids to read or ensuring that schools are inclusive.
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