"Teacher of the Year" Was Chased Out of Her School by Angry Right-Wing Parents in Idaho

The teacher became part of a right-wing media campaign to have her dismissed

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Karen Lauritzen, who was named Idaho's "Teacher of the Year" last year by a Republican administration, has now been chased out of the state by angry right-wing parents.

The Boston Globe reports that, shortly after receiving her award for excellence in teaching, Lauritzen became the target of a right-wing media campaign that flagged her social media posts expressing support for LGBTQ rights and the Black Lives Matter movement.

She was accused of “promoting transgenderism” and being a “left-wing activist,” smears that carried into her fourth-grade classroom in the form of sudden suspicions about her from parents in her school.

This led to parents angrily demanding to see her lesson plans and questioning the school's curriculum, despite the fact that there was no suggestion she ever brought her personal politics into the classroom.

However, parents nonetheless objected to teaching students about other cultures around the world and even teaching them about the United Nations on the grounds that the parents said they "don't believe" in the institution.

“I should have felt celebrated and should have felt like this is a great year, and honestly it was one of the toughest years I have ever had teaching, not only with my community but with parents questioning every decision I made as well,” Lauritzen told the Globe. “Even after 21 years of teaching, my professional judgment was called into question more this year than it ever has in the past.”

“When it’s, ‘My kid can’t do this because it’s propaganda,’ and ‘My kid can’t do that because we don’t believe in United Nations,’ it’s like, what? It’s not Santa Claus, what do you mean you don’t believe in it?” Lauritzen said. “Even if I have certain beliefs myself, that does not mean that I teach kids. It’s not my job to ‘indoctrinate’ or make kids little versions of myself. It’s to make kids into the best versions of themselves.”

The heated battle over education in this country is not only depriving kids of a solid scholarship but also destroying the careers of hard-working, devoted teachers. If the hostile environment surrounding schools persists, no one will want to take up the notoriously low-paying, under-appreciated job of educating our youth.

The longtime Idaho teacher has since left the state and she is now "taking her talents to a university in Illinois, a long-considered career move hastened by the experience."