Abbott moves to bring Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA into Texas schools | Texas
Building on similar efforts in Texas, Oklahoma and Florida, high schools across the state began opening chapters of Turning Point USA, the conservative youth organization founded by the late right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
Texas governor Greg Abbott, lieutenant governor Dan Patrick and other Texas Republicans made the announcement Monday at the governor’s mansion in Austin alongside Turning Point USA (TPUSA) senior director Josh Thifault.
a statement published online Abbott said there is “an urgency and a need” for TPUSA and its affiliate Club America, which focus on college and high school campuses, respectively.
Turning Point organizers said Monday’s announcement came after they claimed they had been notified. 54,000 queries It’s about turning over new pages just days after Kirk was shot and killed in Utah on September 10th. Some in the US have claimed that there is evidence of increased youth participation in faith-based organisations, which are often aligned with conservatives.
A study published by Pew Survey on Mondaybut showed “no clear evidence of a religious revival among young adults.” According to an analysis of 2023-2024 Pew data, 56 percent of young people aged 18-24 belong to any religion. This rate was 74 percent in 2007.
While Abbott and Patrick said there are more than 500 high schools in the state with Club America chapters, Thifault said his organization’s goal is to increase the number of chapters to 20,000 nationwide.
Plans to create Club America chapters in Texas’ high schools were not elaborated by Texas Republican leaders. But Abbott has signaled that he will counter any opposition to the new departments with “meaningful disciplinary action,” essentially so that schools cannot prevent the departments from being created.
“Let me be clear: Any school that stands in the way of the Club America program should be reported immediately to the Texas Education Agency,” the governor said.
According to the Texas Tribune, Texas education commissioner Mike Morath met privately with Thifault in early December to discuss the organization’s expansion. Days later Patrick said he would. handle $1 million in campaign funds to help get the project off the ground.
Although TPUSA has been praised by conservatives as a defender of free speech, it has faced criticism from the US political left for its hostile attitudes towards LGBTQ+ communities and non-Christians based on what critics say is a selective reading of the Bible.
Student and parent groups opposed to the creation of TPUSA school chapters condemned the group, saying it was “racist, homophobic and sexist hate speech.”
Following Kirk’s death, Abbott and Morath accused some teachers of mocking Kirk’s killing and encouraging violence. According to the Texas Tribune in September, Nearly 350 complaints have been filed against Texas teachers for allegedly commenting on Kirk’s murder.
Zeph Capo, president of the Texas American Federation of Teachers, told the Tribune that TPUSA may have a place in universities, but not in high schools, where students are more impressionable.
Oklahoma and Florida previously announced partnerships with TPUSA to expand the organization’s presence. In Oklahoma, partnerships face constitutionally based challenges, including the legality of government resources used to promote partisan political activity.
Texas Republicans, meanwhile, often guard against indoctrinating students with left-leaning ideologies about gender and race, including the prominence of slavery and racism in U.S. history.
But on Monday, the Tribune noted that Republicans in the state are trying to strip TPUSA of any overt political ideology, instead trying to argue that it is more akin to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Texas schools.
“It’s about values,” Abbott said.
However, the governor also reportedly said he was unlikely to approve an initiative aimed at progressive, left-leaning educational centers.
State that Abbott signed months ago Senate Bill 12A law banning student clubs focused on the LGBTQ+ community.
