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US Public Schools Banned Over 10,000 Books Within The Past Academic Year 

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From the 2023 to 2024 academic year, the US banned more than 10,000 books in public schools, according to a survey report from PEN America, an organization that “stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world.” 

As Republican-led states pass new censorship laws, more book bans in public schools have been taking place. PEN America’s survey reported that this year three times the amount of books were banned, from 3,362 books in the previous academic year.

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Reports state that of the books banned, at least 13 titles have been banned for the first time in history. PEN America stated that around 8,000 of the book bans took place in Florida and Iowa. Both states have enforced laws that target classroom materials in general. 

PEN America stated:

“State legislation was also particularly critical in accelerating book bans, making it easier to remove books from schools without due process, or in some cases, without any formal process whatsoever.”

In 2023, Iowa signed a law that banned any material in schools regarding sexual orientation and gender identity before seventh grade. The specific legislation also explicitly banned all books that depict sexual acts for all grade school (K-12) libraries and classrooms. 

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PEN America reported that in Florida, any book that potentially includes sexual conduct has been pulled from schools while they go under review. Both Florida and Iowa have faced lawsuits over their controversial book banning laws. 

LGBTQ+ identifying teachers, students, parents, and major publishers are suing for the law in Iowa to be overturned. 

Six prominent book publishers are also suing Florida over their book bans, calling it “unconstitutional,” as hundreds of books under those publishers were pulled from school libraries. 

Other states that enacted book bans this year include Utah, South Carolina, and Tennessee. PEN America stated that Utah specifically has enacted some of the “most extreme” bills. Utah passed law HB 29, which stated that books must be pulled from schools if at least three districts have found the content to be “objectively sensitive material,” according to reports.

“In part due to the targeting of sexual content, the stark increase includes books featuring romance, books about women’s sexual experiences, and books about rape or sexual abuse as well as continued attacks on books with LGBTQ+ characters or themes, or books about race or racism and featuring characters of color,” PEN America said.

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45% Of Real Estate Agents Claim They’re Struggling To Pay Rent 

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According to a monthly report from Alignable, 45% of real estate agents who own their firms stated that they’re struggling to pay their offices rent in the month of November. This is a 5% increase from October, and 10% higher than September’s data, citing a consistent increase. 

This data aligns with the attitudes of US homeowners as of late, as many who are wanting to move are currently waiting for the market to improve and constant high housing costs to decrease. Overall inventory for homes on sale is also the lowest it’s been in a very long time. 

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Corey Burr, the senior vice president at TTR Sotheby’s International Realty, stated that these recent reports aren’t actually surprising. He discussed how recent interest rate hikes have been driving up mortgage rates and bringing home sales to a lull. 

“I think that the Federal Reserve has put us in this spot where they essentially froze up the residential real estate market by holding interest rates low for so long, and then increasing them so much so quickly. It’s created incredible distortions in our marketplace.” Burr says.

Burr also discussed that he’s been in the real estate industry for over 36 years, so he’s very experienced in following the ups and downs of the real estate market when you own a small business. 

“We are in a spot in the real estate cycle that is hardest for brokerages, particularly the smaller ones who have less market share, and who have fewer assets than the larger brokerages to ride out the storm,” Burr says.

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Prospective buyers are paying close attention to the market as well. High mortgage rates combined with an increase in buyers backing out of deals have led to a major decline in sales. 

Last month, pending home sales were down by 1.5% from September and 8.5% from last year, which is the lowest pending-sales figures according to the National Association of Realtors. 

Burr also mentioned that he expects the amount of realtors to decline across North America as the market continues to struggle, citing that over 60,000 agents left the industry in the first six months of the year. 

Some real estate data analysts are predicting that mortgage rates should decline within the next year. The National Association of Realtors economist Lawrence Yun predicted in early November that mortgage rates could reach between 6% to 7% by next spring and home sales could increase by 13.5% in 2024.

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Real Estate Experts And Data Show Market Is Gradually Slowing Down

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According to recent housing reports, the current real estate market in the US is slowing down gradually due to inflated home prices and high interest rates.

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