OK: Stripping License of Teacher Who Posted LInk to Library

We have an update on the saga of Summer Boismier, and it's not a good one. Not for her, and not for the teachers of Oklahoma. I'm going to quote extensively from a previous post to refresh your memory.

Our story so far

Back in September of 2022, after Oklahoma had unveiled its own version of a Florida-style reading restriction law, Norma High School English teacher Boismier drew flak for covering some books in her classroom with the message "Books the state doesn't want you to read." Apparently even worse, she posted the QR code for the Brooklyn Public Libraries new eCard for teens program, which allows teens from all over the country to check out books, no matter how repressive or restrictive state or local rules they may live under.

She was suspended by the district, which said that this was about her "personal political statements" and a "political display" in the classroom. Boismier told The Gothamist

I saw this as an opportunity for my kids who were seeing their stories hidden to skirt that directive. Nowhere in my directives did it say we can't put a QR code on a wall

The suspension was brief, but Boismier decided this was not the kind of atmosphere in which she wanted to work, so she resigned, citing a culture of fear, confusion and uncertainty in schools, fomented by Oklahoma Republicans.

That wasn't enough to satisfy Walters, at the time campaigning for office. The whole business had been a high-profile brouhaha, so Candidate Walters popped up to put his two cents in via a letter that he posted on Twitter.

Saying that "providing access to banned and pornographic material is unacceptable" and "There is no place for a teacher with a liberal political agenda in the classroom," Walters called for Boismier's license to be revoked. And he called her out by name, arguing that the public do not want "activist teachers in classrooms" and that it's super important that "we continue to protect our kids from indoctrination." Yes, this the same who mandated that every teacher must use the Bible as a teaching tool in their classroom. 

That, of course, led in true MAGA fashion to a flood of vulgarity and death threats directed at Boismier as reported by KFOR:

“These teachers need to be taken out and shot,” “teachers like this should not only be fired but also should be swinging from a tree,” “If Summer tried this in Afghanistan, they’d cut out her tongue for starters,” are just a minuscule fraction of the threats pouring into Summer Boismier’s inbox.

Boismier was unwilling to put up with all of this. When Walters continued to try to strip her teaching license (even though in December of 2022 she took a job at the Brooklyn Library), Boismier used a quirk of Oklahoma law to demand a trial-like hearing to dispute the department of education decision. 

At that hearing in June of 2023, Assistant Attorney General Liz Stephens recommended against taking Boismier's license, saying the state failed to prove that Boismier had broken the law. Let me repeat: the Assistant AG of the state said that Walters had no case.

Boismier wasn't done. In August of 2023, she filed a defamation lawsuit against Walters. Walters filed a motion to dismiss in January of this year, and U.S. District Court Judge Bernard Jones (Oklahoma's first Black magistrate and elevated to the district court by Donald Trump) denied the motion to dismiss. Walters had alleged that Boismier was a sort of public figure, and that malice on his part couldn't be shown. The judge disagreed, saying her case looks solid enough to proceed. So that lawsuit will continue winding through the court.

Meanwhile, the state board and Walters have continued to move forward to take Boismier's license. As reported by Murray Evans at The Oklahoman, they decided hold yet another hearing to "finalize the revocation" in March. Only there's a problem with that plan. In March, all of the department's attorneys quit, so they had no lawyers with which to hold a legal-type proceeding. They've postponed action until May. Once again, Walters had shot himself in the foot by just being lousy at his job.

So what's happened now?  

Last week, the Oklahoma State Board of Education voted to strip Boismier of her license. Reported M. Scott Cart and Murray Evans for The Oklahoman:

“She (Boismier) broke the law,” Walters said [speaking to reporters after the meeting]. “And I said from the beginning, when you have a teacher that breaks the law, said she broke the law, (and) said she will continue to break the law — that can’t stand.”

Walters said he wanted Oklahomans to be very clear that Oklahoma State Department of Education would hold teachers accountable. “The Legislature passes laws, we have rules, teacher code of conduct that goes along with those things ― those will be enforced. I wanted every parent to know they have the best teacher possible in their kid’s classroom.”

Brady Henderson, Boismier's attorney, said she would keep fighting, but first they'd need to see what made-up set of facts the board used to justify their decision.  

On Twitter, Boismier reacted to the decision:

While temporarily losing that teaching certificate feels a bit like losing a fundamental part of myself my Ss--especially those from LGBTQ+ &/or BIPOC communities--were (and still are) faced w/ a much greater loss, the loss of stories that tell their stories, stories that speak to the fundamental parts of themselves & the lives they recognize as similar to their own. I accept the consequences of my actions, though I will also fight those consequences w/ everything I have. But what I'll never accept are the consequences for young people whose stories are required by bigotry to be hidden behind butcher paper.

The Oklahoma State Board of Education (OSBE), the entity that enforces these draconian consequences, is currently composed mostly of members who have never held teaching certificates or taught in public schools or even taught professionally at all. Considering OSBE's proclivity for weaponizing teaching certificates@ the behest of OSDE, here's what #OklaEd Ts, your friends & family, could face for educating responsibly, possessing [books], affirming Ss, expressing opinions, or even just existing the "wrong" way.

At that same OKSBE meeting, two either teachers were under investigation. One for an ill-advised social media post after the Trump assassination attempt, and another for an "inappropriate" post including a photo of his children, one in a Trump mask and the others holding fake swords. 

That photo was posted in 2019; the teacher, Regan Killackey, is one of several plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit challenging HB 1775, the 2021 culture panic gag law. Probably just an incredible coincidence. Have I mentioned that Walters also brought on Chaya Raichik, the woman behind Libs of TikTok, who specializes in digging up social media of left-leaning persons spun to make them look as bad as possible.

So if you're a teacher in Oklahoma, best watch your back and make sure you haven't ever done anything that might hint of a "liberal political agenda" (other political agendas are, apparently, okee dokee), because education dudebro-in-chief is going to root out any ideological impurity in classrooms. Don't think of it as culture panic or a culture war; more like a cultural revolution.