Teachers’ Union Challenges Texas Probes of Posts Related to Charlie Kirk

A Texas teachers’ union filed a lawsuit on Jan. 6 seeking to challenge the state education agency’s investigations into teachers’ social media posts in the days after the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.

The Texas American Federation of Teachers (AFT) filed the lawsuit against the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and its commissioner, Mike Morath, over what it says is an “unconstitutional policy” that violates educators’ rights to free speech.

Kirk, who co-founded nonprofit organization Turning Point USA, was fatally shot on Sept. 10, 2025, while speaking to a crowd of students during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.

According to the lawsuit, the TEA sent a policy letter to superintendents across the state on Sept. 12, 2025, directing them to probe teachers and staff who shared “reprehensible and inappropriate content” about Kirk on social media and report them to its investigative unit.

As a result, more than 350 public school teachers and staff faced probes, and some AFT members were placed on administrative leave, reprimanded, or even terminated for their Kirk-related posts, the union alleged.

The lawsuit cites an unnamed English teacher in Houston who was placed on administrative leave after posting questions on her public Facebook page that sparked debate about the circumstances of Kirk’s death.

The local school board later terminated the teacher despite the lack of majority support from board members for the decision, according to the suit.

It alleges that the state education agency failed to define what it meant by “inappropriate content” and violated teachers’ First and Fourteenth Amendment rights by retaliating against them for expressing their views.

The lawsuit also claims that following the probes, some educators and staff faced “immediate, vicious attack and doxxing” from outsiders who were not residents of their district or of Texas.

“Members also deleted their posts and closed their social media accounts for fear of being disciplined, demonstrating the true chilling effect the TEA Policy has had on the constitutionally protected speech of Texas AFT members,” it states.

The TEA had said in its letter to superintendents that some social media posts by teachers and staff may breach the educators’ code of ethics.

Following Texas AFT’s legal action, the state education agency said in a Jan. 6 statement to media outlets that it “cannot comment on outstanding legal matters.”

Texas AFT said it was seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to block the state education agency’s policy and was not seeking monetary damages.

“Educators don’t give up their constitutional rights when they get their first teaching job,” Texas AFT President Zeph Capo said in a statement. “We look forward to defending our members and making our case in court.”

Reuters contributed to this report.