Oklahoma’s top education official is calling for a teacher’s teaching certificate to be revoked after she gave students access to books restricted under a new state law.
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Oklahoma’s top education official is calling for a teacher’s teaching certificate to be revoked after she gave students access to books restricted under a new state law.
Gonal Ribeiro/EyeEm/Getty Images
Oklahoma’s top education official wants to revoke the credentials of a former teacher after she tried to give students access to books that could be banned from schools under a new state law.
IN a letter he tweeted on WednesdayOklahoma Secretary of Education Ryan Walters called on the state board of education to revoke the teaching certificate of Summer Boismier, a former teacher at Norman High School.
Days earlier, Boismier resigned from her position at the school following a complaint from a parent who suggested Boismier had made political comments in class.
According to Norman TranscriptBoismier placed paper on her classroom’s bookshelves with the message, “Books the state doesn’t want you to read,” in response to HB 1775, a state law passed in May that limits what public school educators can say on race and gender.
Boismier also posted a QR code that directed students to the Brooklyn Public Library’s Unbanned Books project, which gives youth across the country access to books that may be outlawed in their schools.
Republican-led states like Oklahoma are increasingly banning particular books or trying to limit discussion of topics such as race and sexuality in schools.
Boismier declined NPR’s request for comment about Walters’ call to revoke her teaching certificate.
She previously told Gothamist that posting the QR code to her 10th graders was an effort to allow them to read material that was restricted by the state.
“I saw this as an opportunity for my kids who were seeing their hidden stories to bypass that directive,” she said. “Nowhere in my directives does it say we can’t put a QR code on a wall.”
Wes Moody, a spokesman for Norman Public Schools, said the issue did not center around the QR code Boismier displayed in the classroom, but did not specify what the issue was. A statement from the district alleged that Boismier made “personal political statements” and put on a “political performance” in the classroom.
But Walters, in his letter, suggested Boismier gave students access to “prohibited and pornographic” material — without giving specifics — and cited that as justification for revoking her teaching certificate. “There is no place for a teacher with a liberal political agenda in the classroom,” he said, adding that officials must “make sure she doesn’t go to another district and do the same thing.”
Walters did not respond to NPR’s request for an interview.
Rob Crissinger, a spokesman for the Oklahoma State Department of Education, told NPR that the department is not currently planning to file a petition to revoke Boismier’s teaching certificate.
“There is a process in place and we understand that Norman is looking into this matter locally at this time,” Crissinger said. “Based on their review, we will proceed accordingly, but there is no reason to speculate on anything regarding Norman Public Schools until their local review is complete.”
Moody said students at Norman High School never had access to pornographic material and added that the district had no response to Walters’ letter.
The district, in its statement about Boismier’s resignation, said several colleagues shared her concerns about HB 1775. “Like many educators, the teacher has concerns about the censorship and removal of books by the Oklahoma State Legislature,” said the statement. “However, as has always been our expectation, we want our classrooms to be places where ALL students feel welcome.”
If Boismier were to face any discipline from the state board of education, she would be the first teacher to do so for violating HB 1775, according to NPR member station KOSU.
Linda E. Johnson, president and CEO of the Brooklyn Public Library, said in a statement to NPR that the library continued to support Boismier.
“The democratic principles upon which our nation and public libraries were founded include the right of every individual to seek information from all perspectives,” Johnson said. “The Brooklyn Public Library stands strongly with Summer Boismier and all those who defend free expression, intellectual freedom and the right to read.”
