Oklahoma teacher Regan Killackey fighting to keep his teaching certificate over Facebook photo

The Oklahoma State Department of Education is trying to revoke an educator's teaching certificate over an unearthed Facebook photo.

Edmond Memorial High School English teacher Regan Killackey may lose his license after an anonymous tipster sent a photo from his private social media account to the department of education.

A copy of the photo obtained by Oklahoma Watch shows Killackey and his children posing with plastic swords pointed at a person in a Donald Trump mask from September 2019.

The photo was used as evidence in an application to revoke his license and at an Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting on July 31 the department announced they are moving forward with process to take away his certification.

'Well number one, I was shocked. And number two, I thought it was some sort of mistake or some prank or something like that,'  Killackey told KFOR.

'My entire career has been in the state of Oklahoma and I've been teaching for 21 years. I have been fortunate and blessed to have this career.' 

The tipster submitted the photo in the days following the attempted assassination of Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.

'Posted picture on personal Instagram account of the fictitious stabbing of fake presidential candidate mask,' the tipster said according to records obtained by Oklahoma Watch. 

'I am a tax pay (sic) and will NOT condone this type of indoctrination of our youth. Please look into this matter.' 

The revocation process is a legal procedure that gives educators the right to have a hearing that allows witnesses and legal representation, according to the department of education. 

Killackey said he learned the state was seeking to revoke his teaching certificate when his name appeared on the agenda for the July 31 meeting.

'No one in Oklahoma education system will support the assassination of . It will not be tolerated. Ever!,' Republican State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters said on X.

Walters is a former public school teacher who was elected to his post in 2022, and ran on a platform of fighting 'woke ideology,' banning books from school libraries and getting rid of 'radical leftists' who he claims are indoctrinating children in classrooms.

He previously made headlines for ordering teachers to incorporate the Bible into lessons and keep a copy of the holy book in every classroom. 

The Oklahoma Supreme Court shut down his efforts to allow the state Board of Education to determine what books are available in public school libraries in June.

The board, led by Walters, had recommended the suburban school district remove two books - 'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini and 'The Glass Castle' by Jeannette Walls - after new rules were approved in June 2023 that banned resources that contain pornographic and sexualized content.

In April, Walters ordered schools to 'completely ignore' Joe Biden 's new rules promoting children's LGBTQ rights.

Walters slammed the President's Title IX overhaul as 'the most devastating attack on women's rights in our country's history.'

'In Oklahoma, we don't bend to the senseless will of Biden and his posse eradicating women's rights and putting women in danger

'This is why I've instructed every superintendent in my state to completely ignore Biden's new Title IX changes that allow males to roam in female locker rooms, dorms, and bathrooms — places where women should feel safe.'