NORMAN, Okla. (AP) 鈥� Summer Boismier was living her childhood dream. She grew up a bookworm, became a high school English teacher, and filled both her classroom and home with her favorite literature.
She taught her students: 鈥淪tories are what is fundamental about the human experience. We all have them.鈥�
Boismier especially loves the fantasy genre, a passion sprouted from childhood favorite 鈥淗arry Potter.鈥� But even in a world of fantasy, she couldn鈥檛 have dreamed that a lesson from her English class would land her in the center of a vigorous statewide political campaign and turn her into a target for candidates and voters on social media.
Over the past two years, the nine-year teaching veteran was growing alarmed with the Republican-controlled Oklahoma Legislature鈥檚 increasing in public schools. In her classroom, she covered some bookshelves with red butcher tape and labeled them 鈥淏ooks the state doesn鈥檛 want you to read.鈥� She gave students a QR code link to the Brooklyn Public Library, which provides .
She hoped to spark a discussion about the legislators鈥� book restrictions and a and other concepts about race and gender. Instead, she was summoned to a meeting with school administrators after a parent complained.
A firestorm erupted as Boismier resigned and a reporter from a local television station covered the story. The state鈥檚 Republican candidate for superintendent of public schools, Ryan Walters, wrote a letter to the State Board of Education calling for Boismier鈥檚 teaching license to be revoked.
鈥淭here is no place for a teacher with a liberal political agenda in the classroom," Walters wrote in the letter and sent to reporters, even accusing Boismier of providing access to 鈥減ornographic material." The incident gained traction on social media, and people claimed she was part of a larger movement of teachers indoctrinating students with liberal ideology.
Boismier, 34, and other teachers have found themselves at the center of a renewed conservative interest in public education as a political issue. The movement gained steam with parents opposing mask mandates and other COVID-19 measures. It has since broadened, and some supporters focus on issues they say clash with conservative values 鈥� such as teaching about social justice, gender, race and history.
For weeks, Boismier 鈥� a book-loving English teacher without any political aspirations 鈥� was the focus of an ugly and heated statewide campaign. People on social media called for her to be prosecuted, thrown in prison or even lynched.
鈥淚t was a little bit of a firehose of bigotry,鈥� Boismier said.
Even after she resigned, the campaign against her continued, and she left home for a short time when someone emailed a threatening note that included her address. She called her mother in tears.
鈥淭hat's hard enough to read to yourself," Boismier said. 鈥淚t's even harder, I think, to read that to your mother. I'm not going to lie. I was scared.鈥�
As Oklahoma struggles to hire enough qualified teachers, those already in the jobs have increasingly found themselves the target of such conservative attacks and politicians. On the campaign stump and social media, Walters has relentlessly attacked public school teachers as liberal indoctrinators. Norman, one of Oklahoma's most liberal cities, and Tulsa Public Schools, one of its largest districts, both have been singled out by conservative politicians. Similar attacks against schools and libraries also have .
鈥淚鈥檝e seen the propaganda Democrats want in our schools. It鈥檚 sick,鈥� Walters said in one of many online videos he鈥檚 posted during his campaign to lead the state鈥檚 public schools system. 鈥淚鈥檓 here to fix our schools and teach leftists a lesson.鈥�
Walters also has leaned hard into his opposition to or that correspond to their gender identity. He recently suggested at a GOP gathering that all history teachers in Oklahoma should training from a private, conservative Christian college in Michigan.
But it鈥檚 not clear that Walters鈥� message, which helped him win the Republican primary, is resonating in deep-red Oklahoma. A Democrat hasn鈥檛 been elected to statewide office since 2006. Walters, a former classroom teacher who was tapped as secretary of education by Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, is in a tight race with Democrat Jena Nelson, a veteran English teacher and the state鈥檚 2020 teacher of the year.
鈥淲e need a state superintendent who believes in our public schools, elevates our teachers, not threatens to defund schools or threatens teachers,鈥� Nelson said in a recent televised debate.
Jamie Qualls, a special education teacher at Madill Public Schools, a rural district in far south Oklahoma, said she鈥檚 a Republican who plans to vote for Nelson because she dislikes Walters鈥� rhetoric.
鈥淚f we could indoctrinate children, we鈥檇 have them bring a pencil to class,鈥� Qualls said. 鈥淚f we had the power to brainwash kids, we鈥檇 have them do their homework.鈥�
For Boismier, her story has a happy ending. She found comfort in the community that rallied around her amid the attacks 鈥� some even printed yard signs, buttons and T-shirts with the QR code she shared with students. One yard sign is prominently displayed in the front lawn that can be seen from the football stadium.
Now, she鈥檚 heading to New York for a job with the Brooklyn Public Library 鈥� her first move away from Oklahoma since a brief internship in Washington after college.
Despite the controversy and roller coaster of emotions she's experienced over the last two months, she said she'd be willing to go through it all again 鈥� she's proud she stood up for her students and now has the opportunity to reach more young people.
鈥淢y teaching certificate may very well be on the chopping block," she said. 鈥淏ut I'd do it all again with zero hesitation.
鈥淢y only regret is that I didn't do it sooner."
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Sean Murphy, The Associated Press
