According to a report by Gulf Coast News Today, officials from Spanish Fort High School have pulled a summer reading list assigned to students in AP Government & Economics taught because of complaints that it was too conservative.
The list was sent to students by their teacher, Gene Ponder, and included authors like Ann Coulter, Mark Levin, Ron Paul, Ronald Reagan, Michael Savage and others. Titles included Liberalism is a Mental Disorder: Savage Solutions, Trickle Up Poverty: Stopping Obama’s Attacks on Our Borders, Economy and Security, Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto, and 48 Liberal Lies About American History (That You Probably Learned in School.
Mr. Ponder asked his students to read one of the books on the list, but the article said parents were asking if the school system had endorsed the list. Baldwin County Board of Education President Shannon Cauley said students would receive an email from Ponder informing them that there will be “no summer reading assignment” in his class.
“As a courtesy, the school principal called to let me know that the list had been removed and assignment canceled,” Cauley said in a Facebook post, according to Gulf Coast News Today.“He’ll be sending an email to all senior students/parents to notify them that there will be no summer reading assignment for this AP government class.”
Eddie Tyler, Superintendent of Baldwin County Schools, added that the list wasn’t pre-approved by the school system and that’s why the teacher had removed the list. “The list has been removed by the teacher. Baldwin County Public Schools has a process to vet and approve reading lists so that a variety of sources are used. I expect all employees to follow our processes, procedures and policies.” Tyler added, “Mr. Ponder’s reading list that is going around on social media has not been endorsed by the school system,” Tyler wrote in a statement Wednesday.
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