[epgui]

Perhaps not, but for people in most other countries, the idea that some public schools will just ban whatever they want in an ad hoc fashion amounts to the same thing as saying that it’s the government doing it.

From an international-vs-US perspective, education being state-run or locally-governed is really more of a technicality than anything, because education policy is largely a national concern.

In many (or most?) other developed countries, there is a public-private divide where there is a pretty well established expectation that the government doesn’t ban things it deems “merely immoral”, an expectation exemplified by the separation of church and state. Private institutions on the other hand are given more leeway on that front, because their services are opt-in.

[paulddraper]

> public schools will just ban whatever they want in an ad hoc fashion amounts to the same thing as saying that it’s the government doing it.

There's a huge difference between "we're not going to stock this in the school library" and people not being allowed to read it.

> education policy is largely a national concern

Education is entirely controlled by the states, except that federal funding comes with some strings attached.