Oklahoma teacher resigns after Critical Race Theory banned from curriculum

Norman, Oklahoma teacher Summer Boismier quit her high school teaching job after being put on leave for providing students links to materials regarding Critical Race Theory (CRT) and radical gender ideology.

According to the Daily Caller, Oklahoma Education Secretary Ryan Walters said, "The best and brightest and good teachers do not want to indoctrinate kids; that goes against the very fabric of what it means to be a good teacher."

"In the state of Oklahoma, we want teachers that are there to empower students, not indoctrinate them or brainwash them," Walters added.

In May, Oklahoma passed House Bill 1775 which specifically prohibits any teaching that promotes the idea that one race is superior to another. Critical Race Theory (CRT) is a form of racial essentialism that defines individuals by their racial and ethnic identity groups and then assigns them a place within structures and hierarchies of power.

"We passed the bill to ensure that if that’s your goal, if your goal is to indoctrinate kids, you need to find another job. Our goal as a state is to empower parents and their kids’ education and to equip and attract the best and brightest into the teaching profession," Walters said of HB 1775 which effectively bans CRT and elements of radical gender ideology.

Former teacher Boismier had provided her students with a QR code and labeled it with the message "definitely don’t scan this" on the first day of her class. The link sent students to Brooklyn Public Library's "Books Unbanned" program. The program made available to the students many materials HB 1775 deemed unsuitable for classrooms. Examples included "Gender Queer: A Memoir," "Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism and You," and "All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir Manifesto," the last book combining both CRT and radical gender ideology in one tale.

A parent discovered the materials and told the school, leading to Boismier's suspension.

"I will say that the district did offer me back my job, allowing me back in the classroom as of tomorrow morning," Boismier said. "However, there were some fundamental ideological differences between myself and district representatives that I just couldn’t get past."

Republican Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt’s communications director Carly Atchinson said to the Daily Caller, "Educators who choose to resign because they ideologically oppose banning these racist and sexist concepts from the classroom have every right to do so and probably should. Education Secretary Ryan Walters seconded that sentiment and noted it's best if teachers like Boismier seek a different career.