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The Texas Education Agency is investigating roughly 180 complaints against teachers who have been accused of making inappropriate comments online about conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death as several educators across the state have already been punished for allegedly doing so.
In the days since Kirk was shot and killed during an event he hosted at Utah Valley University, lawmakers and activists have called for the firings and removals of anyone mocking Kirk or celebrating his death.
On Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott alleged the complaints amounted to over 100 teachers, and that statements against Kirk “called for or incite violence” in a social media post.
The Texas Education Agency did not respond to questions about what policy or ethics code violation would be broken if a teacher made what was considered to be an inappropriate comment. The TEA provided a statement from agency commissioner Mike Morath, who said he would recommend the State Board for Educator Certification suspend the licenses of teachers who are disciplined.
“While all educators are held to a high standard of professionalism, there is a difference between comments made in poor taste and those that call for and incite further violence — the latter of which is clearly unacceptable,” Morath said.
At least six school districts across the state have already taken disciplinary action regarding staff comments on Kirk’s death, and others have been criticized by Republican lawmakers for not taking swift action. Klein Independent School District fired a teacher for comments he made online about Kirk’s death, and Ector County Independent School District fired a part-time tutor and placed another employee on administrative leave, according to a press release. Both districts said the fired employees’ comments did not reflect the “values” of their schools.
Critics have called the crackdown “authoritarian” and expressed concern that the comments are protected First Amendment speech. Zeph Capo, president of the Texas’ American Federation of Teachers union, said in a statement that the investigations “silence dissent” among school teachers.
“What started with lawmakers weaponizing their platforms against civil servants has morphed into a statewide directive to hunt down and fire educators for opinions shared on their personal social media accounts,” Capo said.
Several Texas lawmakers have become outspoken about teacher’s comments on Kirk, with some encouraging their removal or disciplinary action. The online pushback comes after two professors were fired before Kirk’s death over statements they made in videos taken of them unknowingly and posted online.
“The TEA takes a stand against teachers who condoned the assassination of Charlie Kirk,” Rep. Steve Toth, R-Conroe, said in a social media post on Friday. “These people are insanely hateful and violent and have no place in the lives of Texas Children.”
While the TEA investigates K-12 teachers, Texas legislators will inquire about how higher education faculty and staff are handling discussions of Kirk’s death and other subjects. On Friday, Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced two new committees, “honoring the life and legacy” of Kirk, would create reports on free speech and bias at state universities.
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