II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5261 

To authorize the Secretary of Education to provide grants to local educational 

agencies to cover the costs of challenges to determinations not to discontinue the use of specific instructional materials, or the availability 

of specific school library materials, in public elementary and secondary 

schools, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2024 

Mr. BOOKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Education to provide grants 

to local educational agencies to cover the costs of challenges to determinations not to discontinue the use of 

specific instructional materials, or the availability of specific school library materials, in public elementary and 

secondary schools, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fight Book Bans Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO REIMBURSE CERTAIN COSTS OF CHAL2 LENGES TO CONTINUED USE OF INSTRUC3 TIONAL AND LIBRARY MATERIALS. 

4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

5 (1) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 

6 school’’, ‘‘parent’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, and ‘‘Sec7 retary’’ have the meaning given those terms in sec8 tion 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu9 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

10 (2) APPLICABLE PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘appli11 cable program’’ means any program for which the 

12 Secretary has administrative responsibility as pro13 vided by law or by delegation of authority pursuant 

14 to law. 

15 (3) COVERED LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 

16 The term ‘‘covered local educational agency’’ means 

17 a local educational agency that has the duty and re18 sponsibility under law— 

19 (A) to select and provide instructional ma20 terials and school library materials for students 

21 attending public elementary schools or public 

22 secondary schools under the jurisdiction of the 

23 agency; 

24 (B) to provide, or participate in, a proc25 ess— 


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1 (i) to provide for resolution of an ob2 jection by a parent or other person to— 

3 (I) the use of a specific instruc4 tional material; or 

5 (II) the availability of a specific 

6 school library material; and 

7 (ii) to discontinue the use of the in8 structional material, or the availability of 

9 the school library material, for any grade 

10 level or age group if the local educational 

11 agency determines that the material is in12 appropriate or unsuitable; and 

13 (C) to provide, or participate in, a process 

14 (including any administrative proceeding or 

15 court case) under which a parent or other per16 son who disagrees with a determination made 

17 by the covered local educational agency pursu18 ant to subparagraph (B)(ii) to discontinue or 

19 not to discontinue the use of an instructional 

20 material, or the availability of a school library 

21 material, may appeal, or otherwise request re22 consideration of, the determination. 

23 (4) INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL.—The term ‘‘in24 structional material’’ means instructional content 

25 that is provided to a student, regardless of its forVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:25 Oct 11, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5261.IS S5261

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1 mat, including printed or representational materials, 

2 audio-visual materials, and materials in electronic or 

3 digital formats (such as materials accessible through 

4 the internet). The term does not include academic 

5 tests or academic assessments. 

6 (5) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

7 ‘‘local educational agency’’ means a public elemen8 tary school, public secondary school, local edu9 cational agency (as defined in section 8101 of the 

10 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

11 (20 U.S.C. 7801)), or local board of education, that 

12 is the recipient of funds under an applicable pro13 gram. 

14 (6) SCHOOL LIBRARY MATERIAL.—The term 

15 ‘‘school library material’’ means any material avail16 able to a student via the student’s school library, re17 gardless of its format, including printed or represen18 tational materials, audio-visual materials, and mate19 rials in electronic or digital formats (such as mate20 rials accessible through the internet). 

21 (7) STUDENT.—The term ‘‘student’’ means any 

22 public elementary school or public secondary school 

23 student. 

24 (b) GRANTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized 

2 to make grants to covered local educational agencies 

3 to reimburse such agencies for the costs (including 

4 costs such as attorneys’ fees and court costs) in5 curred in connection with a process described in sub6 section (a)(2)(C), if— 

7 (A) such costs are not reimbursed by the 

8 State or any other person; and 

9 (B) such process was initiated due to a de10 termination by the covered local educational 

11 agency not to discontinue the use of an instruc12 tional material or the availability of a school li13 brary material. 

14 (2) APPLICATION.—A covered local educational 

15 agency desiring to receive an award under paragraph 

16 (1) shall submit an application to the Secretary at 

17 such time and in such manner as the Secretary shall 

18 require. 

19 (3) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The maximum 

20 amount that a covered local educational agency is el21 igible to receive under this subsection is $100,000 

22 for each determination described in paragraph 

23 (1)(B). 

24 (4) AWARD PROCESS.—In awarding grants 

25 under this subsection, the Secretary shall ensure 


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1 that the award process is based on content-neutral 

2 and viewpoint-neutral criteria and does not take into 

3 account the content of the instructional material or 

4 school library material concerned. 

5 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

6 out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated 

7 a total of $15,000,000 for fiscal years 2025 through 2029. 

Æ 


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