Statement: Supporting the Lawsuit Against Censorship in DoDEA School Libraries

Students at K-12 schools on U.S. military bases have the same fundamental First Amendment rights as all students.

These rights do not disappear at the schoolhouse gate because they attend a school on a base.

EveryLibrary stands in support of the students and families who, with the assistance of the ACLU, have filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Defense and the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA).

The complaint addresses the Trump administration’s orders that have led to the banning of books, the cancellation of cultural observances, and the reduction of curricula in schools on military bases worldwide.

The students involved in this case, ranging from preschool to 11th grade, are the children of active-duty military service members. “I am in awe of the courage shown by these students and their families,” said John Chrastka, Executive Director of EveryLibrary. “They are living proof that the Constitution still matters, even in a school system run directly by the federal government. Their voices remind us that school libraries are not battlegrounds for political agendas. They are not just fighting for their right to read and learn; they are standing up for the very principles their families have sworn to defend."

In February 2025, EveryLibrary issued an urgent call to action over Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s censorship campaign and launched a petition urging Congress to intervene. Since then, nearly 10,000 Americans have signed the petition in solidarity with DoDEA students, demanding an end to this politically motivated assault on library collections and educational freedom.

This situation underscores what EveryLibrary has been warning from the beginning: DoDEA is the school system in the country most directly affected by the Trump administration’s education policies. What is happening in these schools is a preview of what will be imposed across all public schools if this administration’s education agenda remains unchecked.

Among the school library books removed from DoDEA libraries are "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini, "The Antiracist Kid" by Tiffany Jewell, and "Hillbilly Elegy" by (now) Vice President J.D. Vance. In one DoDEA school in Japan, 61 books were taken out of circulation. In Italy, 25 titles were pulled from an elementary library, including "Julian is a Mermaid", a gentle story about self-expression. At the same time, the administration has canceled Black History Month, Pride Month, and other heritage celebrations. They have instructed school librarians to quarantine materials deemed “ideological” and even issued guidance banning yearbook content that references gender identity or social transition.

“DoDEA students have no state board of education or locally elected school board to advocate for them. They are governed directly by a White House that has made censorship, fear, and exclusion central to its education policy,” said Chrastka. “If we allow this to continue in federal schools, it will spread across the country like wildfire.”

EveryLibrary commends the ACLU of Virginia, the ACLU of Kentucky, and the national ACLU for bringing this important case forward. It represents a fundamental defense of the First Amendment rights of military-connected students—rights that do not disappear at the schoolhouse gate simply because they attend schools on military bases.