Texas state Rep. Matt Krause (R), chair of the Texas House Committee on General Investigating, announced Wednesday that he's initiating a probe into schools' library books, according to a letter sent to the state's education agency and other superintendents.
Why it matters: The probe focuses on books that discuss race, sexuality, or "make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex," Krause wrote in the letter.
- The move comes just months after Texas passed legislation curtailing the ways Texas teachers can discuss racism in both current events and throughout U.S. history.
The big picture: Krause included a 16 page list of roughly 850 targetted books, many dealing with topics such as racism, abortion and homosexuality, the Texas Tribune first reported.
- The letter asks school districts to detail how many copies of each book on the list they have and where they're located, how much money they spent on the books, and to identify other books or content they have dealing with the aforementioned themes.
- Schools have until Nov. 12 to respond, the letter states, without specifying what the consequences of possessing the books will be.
Of note: Texas state Rep. Victoria Neave (D), vice chair of the investigating committee, told Dallas Morning News that the committee did not take a vote on the matter, which she deemed "politically motivated to support their own campaigns.”
- Krause is currently a candidate for state attorney general.
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