Texas cracked down on teachers for posts about Charlie Kirk, union lawsuit says

1 month ago 3

By JOHN HANNA, Associated Press

A Texas teachers union sued the state’s education department on Tuesday, accusing it of an improper “wave of retaliation” against public school employees over their social media comments following the assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk.

The lawsuit says the free speech rights of teachers and other school staff were violated by the Texas Education Agency and its commissioner, Mike Morath, because they directed local school districts to document what the education agency described as “vile content” posted online after Kirk was fatally shot in September.

Despite calls for civility, some people who criticized Kirk after his assassination faced a backlash from Republicans who saw them as dishonoring him, leading to firings by universities, sports teams and media companies. Florida’s education commissioner also promised to investigate teachers over objectionable comments.