© 2026 Western New York Public Broadcasting Association

140 Lower Terrace St.
Buffalo, NY 14202

Toronto Address:
130 Queens Quay E.
Suite 903
Toronto, ON M5A 0P6


Mailing Address:
Horizons Plaza P.O. Box 1263
Buffalo, NY 14240-1263

Buffalo Toronto Public Media | Phone 716-845-7000
BTPM NPR Newsroom | Phone: 716-845-7040
Differing shades of blue wavering throughout the image
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Texas limits direct communication between students and lawmakers. Some students are pushing back

Aina Marzia speaking at Rep. Veronica Escobar's campaign launch event. (Courtesy of Aina Marzia)
Aina Marzia speaking at Rep. Veronica Escobar's campaign launch event. (Courtesy of Aina Marzia)

This week Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill that bans books with sexual content from school libraries and sets new standards and ratings for school librarians to follow when they add new books to the shelves. While the book bans have gotten a lot of attention, there are other restrictions on learning in Texas, including a line from a 2021 law that limits student interactions with elected officials.

Student activists are fighting back, and Deepa Fernandes spoke with one: Aina Marzia, who is a high school student in El Paso, Texas, and a freelance journalist. She recently wrote about this restriction for the non-profit newsroom, Prism.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.