School Board Conducts Hearing
Board to Uphold Decision Reinstating 'Caged Bird'; Racism Simmers Just Below the Surface
Results of Appeal a Foregone Conclusion

The Anne Arundel County School Board spent all day Saturday [August 22] and all evening on two Thursdays [August 27 and September 3] conducting its administrative hearing on Maya Angelou's book "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." The Board was considering an appeal by Barry and Sharon Taylor seeking to overturn School Superintendent Carol Parham's decision reinstating the book as part of the ninth grade curriculum.

The results are widely anticipated; the Board will deny the appeal.

At the hearing, both sides jockeyed for position, attempting to lay the legal groundwork necessary to prevail in a lawsuit to be filed after all administrative appeals are exhausted.

The Taylors presented their case against "Caged Bird" Saturday, arguing that the book was inappropriate for ninth graders, and that the school system did not follow proper procedures in handling their concerns.

Mr. Taylor cried as he read parts of the book out loud, apologizing in advance to those present for the "vulgar" language. Although he seemed sincere in his beliefs, his racism was just as clear, as he told the Board perhaps the book would be appropriate for educational use in "high crime" parts of the county, adding, "I don't want to live in a high crime area, if I can put it that way."

Mr. Taylor was convinced that any right-thinking person would immediately side with him upon hearing "offensive" excerpts from the book. Most of the audience, filled with supporters from Community Baptist Church of Edgewater, seemed to agree.

As Taylor began calling witnesses, however, sympathy for his side began to crumble. Taylor presented witnesses who unintentionally made the case for the book's supporters. First, Taylor called Robert Costa, an Anne Arundel County Fire Department employee, who argued that the book constituted child abuse. Incredibly, Costa went on to claim that he would be fired from the Fire Department if he brought the book to his job.

After a break for lunch from which much of the audience never returned, Mr. Taylor called his pastor as a witness. Mr. Thompson objected to the book largely on religious grounds. Thompson stated that the authority of God and the Bible took precedent over legal authority, that he and his wife were "personally offended" by the book, and that "we are what we read about." He believes that "immoral reading materials produce immoral behavior" and stated his intention to pray for the Board. He also argued that the book violates the student code of conduct. Under cross examination, Thompson admitted that he had not read most of the book.

Perhaps the most interesting witness was then called by Mr. Taylor. Christene Schwaln, a publicity-seeking political activist from Montgomery County had no connection to the case or with the Taylors. She had read about the case in the newspapers and took it upon herself to share her views with anyone who would listen.

Schwaln used the hearing to attack President Clinton, the county's curriculum developers, the other side's witnesses, and young people in general, whom she said "don't have the wisdom to handle" the book. She called it "poorly written" and "immoral throughout." Her scattershot approach included comments like "You can get a doctorate in pornographic films"; "About masturbation, nice people don't even like to admit it"; and "One sentence can make a whole book objectionable."

Schwaln admitted that she had kept her son home from school for 80 days in Montgomery County "to keep him away from that immoral teacher who taught that rape was OK."

Schawln took frequent cigarette breaks, smoking within a few feet of a sign that prohibited smoking. She repeatedly called Darren Burns, an attorney for Superintendent Parham, a "liar" and called both him and board members "zombies."

Even Mr. Taylor seemed to realize the harm done to his side by the extreme nature of Ms. Schwaln's testimony. He immediately tried to distance himself from her, stating that he would not have put things quite the same way. He said he had called her merely to show that there was a wide variety of opinions about the appropriateness of the book.

Mr. Taylor called his final witness, his wife Mrs. Taylor, as the hearing continued on Thursday evening. Mrs. Taylor described herself as an introvert who had to "sacrifice" her personality for "the good of the children" to testify against 'Caged Bird.'

Mrs. Taylor objected to the book, she said, because it includes profanity, describes pubic hair, includes a scene where a black man is murdered, talks about "titties" and masturbation, and includes racial slurs. "No child should have to be a witness to the crimes" described in the book, she said, adding that "this book is not age appropriate for any child to be reading."

Taylor ended her testimony by presenting a petition against the book, signed by "over 300 people," but on cross examination admitted that she had not witnessed the signatures and could not testify that the signers had children in county schools, or even if they were county residents.


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