Calls to fire Glen Ellyn teacher Lauren Crowe spread across social media recently after the D41 educator shared a video on Tik Tok promoting books highlighting LGBTQ+ activism to her grammar school students.
Crowe, who teaches third grade at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School, posted the video on Tik Tok. It was then shared on Twitter by a user who goes by the name “Libs of Tik Tok.”
“Activist teacher shows off book collection she uses to indoctrinate 3rd grade students,” the user posted.
The Tweet was shared more than 800 times and left Twitter users calling for the district to fire Crowe.
Another TIk Tok celebrated Crowe’s purchase of gay- and bisexually-themed stuffed animal “plushies” to give to her nine year old students during Gay Pride month.
Among the re-Tweets was one from the DuPage GOP, which posted: “Please watch these videos by Glen Ellyn teacher who filmed & shared publicly. Appropriate for 3rd grade? Education or indoctrination? What is going on in our kids schools, this is not an isolated incident. Admin didn't know? District 41 - 630.790.6400.”
Irate viewers of the video also took to other social media outlets to call for Crowe's firing, including posting numerous comments on the D41 Facebook page.
Others defended Crowe, saying they support D41 requiring third graders to read books about homosexuality.
Glen Ellyn native Helen Bosacki wrote on Facebook that she thought the books should be “standardized” in the D41 curriculum.
“All libraries have a tendency to not have enough diverse material,” Bosacki wrote. “That includes different family structures.”
Simon Burke of Glen Ellyn went on Facebook to call for Crowe supporters to get people opposed to her teaching methods fired from their jobs.
“Happy to make the call to the company they work for. This is unacceptable,” Burke wrote.
“I think many of us know who these people might be and where they work,” wrote Karen Hauseman Winter of Glen Ellyn. She works as an office manager at Yamaha Music School in Wheaton.
Another Facebook commenter wrote that Crowe supporters were being hypocritical.
“I wonder if support would be different if she displayed books and themes and Tik Tok danced in support of the Second Amendment.. or right to life,” he wrote.”Everyone is entitled to support the causes they think are important, but posting them from your public school classroom is just inviting trouble.”
“It is an indictment of this teacher’s intelligence. Assuming she wants to keep her job,” he wrote.
Calls to D41 for comment Thursday went unanswered.
Crowe, 24, graduated from Glenbard West H.S. in 2015. She lives in Glen Ellyn.
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