Tuesday, January 23rd 2024, 6:28 pm
State Superintendent Ryan Walters appointed a woman to the new Oklahoma Library Media Advisory Committee, who is behind the "Libs of TikTok" social media account. Walters says he's trying to eliminate what he calls "woke" library standards from Oklahoma Schools.
The new appointment is Chaya Raichik, who was formerly a real estate agent but is more well-known for running the Libs of TikTok account on X.
Libs of TikTok has a following of prominent conservative figures, including Donald Trump. Raichik often shares content that she and Ryan Walters believe is the indoctrination of liberal ideas in public schools.
The account made waves in Oklahoma last August when it shared the TikTok video of a Union staff member talking about her woke agenda, which she wrote in the caption meant teaching kids to be kind and love reading.
Shortly after, Union Schools said it received a bomb threat and said it was connected to the video being shared by the Libs of TikTok Account.
"You can tie their posts to bomb threats throughout the United States, one here in Oklahoma at Union Public Schools," said State Representative Mark McBride.
He says he doesn't support the choice by Walters to appoint someone with no ties to Oklahoma Education to a role like this.
"I believe there's plenty of Oklahoma parents, educators, and librarians that could fill this role," said McBride.
Superintendent Walter says the newly formed committee is a volunteer advisory board that will look into flagged material in schools.
"What they do is when they get a complaint, they do a deep dive not just in the section that's been flagged, but they look at the whole book. They look at the context of the section, so they do a deep dive into the material," said Walters.
This announcement comes after Walters decided last month to reject American Library Association Standards in Oklahoma Schools. He says the committee's mission is to remove pornographic or sexualized content from public schools.
"I wanted to bring her on board to help us ensure that Oklahoma is leading the country in ensuring students aren't being exposed to left-wing indoctrination and pornographic material in our schools," Walters said.
Walters says the committee is also made up of parents and teachers. He says Raichik will have her first meeting with the committee next month.
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