Education Week - September 28, 2022 - 11

Q&A
A Teacher Who
'Refused to Be Party
To Censorship'
Tells Her Story
What happened at your school this summer?
What had happened over the summer is our education
secretary had been posting online a few YA titles, Gender
Queer being one of them, Flamer being another, and
associating those titles with obscenity and pornography. So
what had occurred is there was a moral panic that had been
created by these texts.
So there were basically a couple of options that were
given [by my district]. A lot of the guidance, and a lot of the
directive, had been related specifically to school libraries at
that point. We were required to districtwide go through our
official reading lists: the texts that show up on a syllabus,
for example, and provide detailed rationales for those texts.
That was never something we've had to do before. You may
have to rationalize introducing a new text because usually
district money would be required to purchase those, but we
never had to do it retroactively.
We were given a document that, when asked, I was told that
Conversation with
Summer Boismier
former teacher at
Norman High School in Oklahoma
Summer Boismier made headlines when she resigned
from teaching English at Norman High School in
Oklahoma in August.
She faced what she considered to be a district book ban
effort in response to the state's new law, HB 1775, restricting
how race and gender identity could be discussed in schools.
The legislation is one of several passed since 2021 across the
country, known as anti-critical race theory laws.
Administrators were concerned about students accessing
books with themes that could elicit a complaint under the
law, so Boismier covered up her classroom texts with butcher
paper. But a parent later filed a complaint after Boismier also
put up QR codes which, when scanned, offered students
a link to apply for a Brooklyn Public Library card granting
access to online books in any state. She submitted her
resignation on Aug. 23; it took effect the following day.
In a statement, the district said: " The teacher had, during
class time, made personal political statements and used
their classroom to make a political display expressing those
opinions. ... As soon as they were available, we met with
the teacher to address the concern and expected them to
return to class as normal. At no point was the teacher ever
terminated, suspended, or placed on administrative leave. "
Since then, the state's own secretary of education,
Ryan Walters, publicly demanded that the state board
of education revoke Boismier's teaching certificate. (In
Oklahoma, the state superintendent is the top official in
charge of public schools, not the education secretary.)
The former Norman teacher has faced online threats and
harassment.
Boismier spoke with Education Week about the broad
impact of HB 1775 and what she wants those who wish to
support teachers in Oklahoma can do.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
it came from upper administration and the school board that
essentially laid out some of the options for teachers regarding
classroom libraries. To put it in a nutshell, we were tasked with
either removing or restricting access to texts. So we could go
through our classroom libraries and pull those texts that have
to do with race and gender, and which might elicit an HB 1775
complaint. I have never had to do that before. I've never had
any issues with my classroom library before.
The other option was to restrict student access for the
time being. That raised some red flags, ... because how
long is the short term? Like are we talking a week? Are
we talking a semester, are we talking a whole year? And I
would not fault a student, for instance, who walked into my
classroom saw those texts restricted and-because I didn't
say anything-assumed that I was complicit, or at least in
some way tacitly agreed with the labeling of stories that
primarily center LGBTQ+ perspectives and [perspectives of
Black, Indigenous, and people of color]. I can't do what I do
having students think that way.
Relationships and inclusivity in the classroom is a
foundational aspect for all of the curricular instruction that
we do throughout the year. If that doesn't exist, if students
can't trust me to engage respectfully with their identities,
what's the point of me being there at all?
Why did you resign?
In English specifically, we can't do what we need to do
without books. So it would in my mind be startling if a
student walked into an English classroom and there were
no books on display. One thing I refuse to do is be a party
to censorship in any way, shape, or form. Whether that
censorship is an effort to protect teachers from unfair
legislation, or an effort to dictate by folks-who honestly
have no business doing that dictating-what information
students have access to.
There were several reasons why I ultimately chose to resign.
I chose to resign of my own volition, firing was never on the
table. I left because it is an impossible situation to do what
I do with HB 1775 hanging over my head. We [teachers] all
know, because there's research, there's data, [and] it's pretty
ingrained into best practices, that educational outcomes
improve when all the stakeholders involved can collaborate.
That is the classroom teacher; that's administration, that's the
students themselves, parents, guardians, the community. And
what HB 1775 has essentially forced us in Oklahoma to do as
teachers is we have to hold those stakeholders at arm's length.
Because there's no due process in that law, and it tries to
legislate intent and feelings, rather than ideas and impact,
there's a lot of uncertainty about, what exactly could elicit
this violation? Well, someone feels uncomfortable. Okay,
that seems like a " floor is lava " scenario here.
What impact is Oklahoma's HB 1775
having on schools?
In Oklahoma, this particular school year has been
launched with an environment that I've never seen before
in all my years in education, and that's including our
COVID-19 years. And that environment was specifically
created because of HB 1775.
It is incredibly vague. It is incredibly patronizing. And it's
designed to essentially elicit uncertainty. And when that
uncertainty is created, school districts, teachers are going
to have knee-jerk reactions, because we don't know how
exactly you comply with this law.
Late July, our state board voted to downgrade the
accreditation of two of the state's largest school districts, Tulsa
public schools and Mustang public schools, because of alleged
HB 1775 violations. That accreditation downgrade created an
environment of panic and fear in our public school districts.
This legislation, which is inherently fear-based, has
created a rock and a hard place situation, or to use a
banned book reference, a Catch-22. Districts are having to
choose between protecting their teachers versus remaining
open. And it's an impossibly difficult situation. Teachers
are now having essentially to choose as well, between
their principles, what we know to be best practices, and
their paychecks. Needless to say, that does not create an
educational environment conducive to learning.
What impact is HB 1775 having on teachers
specifically?
Teachers need to raise the alarms as the content area
experts about what this law is doing. But what people don't
realize is that the onus is always put back for some reason
on educators-as if we are saints, martyrs, or superheroes.
No, we're just working professionals who want to be able to
make a living.
I do not blame anyone for choosing a paycheck. Principles
don't keep the lights on. And teachers are also looking at what
has happened with my situation. At the end of the day, I shared
a library card. And now I can't stay at my house, because
people have doxxed me. I have both the secretary of education
and members of the Oklahoma state House, who are calling
on the board to revoke my certification, which would in turn
prevent me from being able to work as a classroom teacher in
this state. Teachers are doing a cost-benefit analysis. They're
constantly vilified. They're constantly assumed to be the
enemy here and they're leaving.
So what comes next?
I think it is wild that I had to leave the classroom to tell
the truth.
What I am working toward right now is finding ways that
I can support my colleagues who are still in the classroom,
that I can support the students who have been directly
attacked by legislation like this, because of who they
inherently are.
To folks who are asking the question, " How do I help? "
Number one, trust your teachers in Oklahoma, and really
nationwide as well. Listen to your teachers. Respect your
teachers as the professionals they are.
We have an election coming up, which is going to be
quite consequential for our public schools. Our governor is
running for reelection, the secretary of education is running
to be in charge of the public schools. Be vocal in a way that
your teachers might not be able to, because of the climate
created and the sword hanging over their heads in their
professional capacities. Vote for pro-education candidates.
Don't let this be a fishbowl moment. I would say to buy
the books, [support] these authors, these creators who have
really done us a profound service in identifying a gap in the
literature, and attempting to fill it in and be able to validate
and represent the identities of many of our students that
haven't been traditionally represented. Push back. And
don't just do that on Facebook. Contribute to organizations
that are public school adjacent that prioritize civil liberties,
like the [American Civil Liberties Union], like the Brooklyn
Library, like our local libraries. Value [teachers] for the
expertise that they have. Pay them accordingly.
Clara Luper was a teacher who also took a stand and
organized some of the first students here in Oklahoma
during the civil rights movement. I think if teachers can't
stand for their kids, and especially their kids with these
historically marginalized identities, then what's the point of
doing anything that we do?
It comes down to two stark choices in terms of what
we want out of public education: Do we want it to be
exclusionary? Or do we want it to be inclusive?
-ILEANA NAJARRO
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Education Week - September 28, 2022

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