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Oklahoma teacher says she was removed from position after sharing library resource for banned books [1]
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Date: 2022-08-23
We don’t have all of the information here, but what we do know, according to Suares, is bleak. Suares shares in her thread that the teacher told Suarez she had been “removed” from her position and put on leave.
Per tweets from Suares, Bosimier has said: “Let me be absolutely clear: I place the primary responsibility for this chilling of free speech and free association at the feet of Ryan Walters, Governor Stitt, and their ilk at 23rd & Lincoln.”
"In response to unfounded calls from state leadership for widespread censorship, I did share a library-linked QR code with my students,” Bosimier told local outlet Fox 25, adding that she was “immediately” placed on leave after doing so.
"Teachers across the district have been told by administration to either remove or restrict student access to classroom library texts for fear of a potential accreditation downgrade associated with any perceived violations of HB 1775,” she added.
The school district, on the other hand, says the teacher in question has not been “suspended or terminated.”
Here’s that tweet.
x ❗️JUST IN- Norman schools gave us this statement and said they have not yet taken action against the teacher. They were waiting to hear her side of the story during a meeting with her today. @OKCFOX pic.twitter.com/GSSOQUwd5q — Wendy Suares (@wsuares) August 23, 2022
And again, what did the teacher do that led to her removal from the classroom for an ambiguous period of time? She shared resources with students. The library program is truly wonderful—it allows anyone between 13 and 21 to use a virtual library card to read (and listen to) tons of available books. Including banned and challenged books. Including books young people might see disappear from their local shelves. Including books their school district might otherwise notify their parents that they’re reading.
That’s likely what people are worried about with such a program: that parents will lose some of their control over what young people in their care are being exposed to and that reading about, for example, queer people, might encourage them to find safety or empathy for themselves or others in their lives. This sentiment could also be applied to books by and about people of color, especially in light of the ongoing critical race theory hysteria Republicans are pushing.
It’s scary. It’s dangerous. It’s the latest Republican hate campaign and we’ve got to make sure we’re paying attention to every level of government, including school boards, so we can keep free and accessible books in the hands of those who need them the most.
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https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/23/2118329/-Oklahoma-teacher-says-she-was-removed-from-position-after-sharing-library-resource-for-banned-books
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