By MARGERY A. BECK and SAHAR AKBARZAI<\/p>\n
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) \u2014 Republican leaders across the U.S. are encouraging chapters of the conservative political group Turning Point USA in all public high schools in the wake last year\u2019s assassination of co-founder Charlie Kirk<\/a>, an effort they describe as countering the oppression of conservative voices in education.<\/p>\n The group\u2019s endorsement by Republican governors \u2014 at least eight so far \u2014 has stirred debate about free speech in America\u2019s schools, with critics arguing many of the same conservative leaders have sought to silence others with measures to restrict what teachers can say<\/a> on sex education, LGBTQ+ issues and other topics.<\/p>\n Adding to the divisions has been some governors\u2019 invocation of Christian religion in their support of the clubs.<\/p>\n At her news conference last month announcing a partnership with Turning Point USA<\/a>, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said God had worked through Kirk to grow the conservative group and that she hoped it would spark \u201cthe exact type of civic engagement that we want to see\u201d among high school students.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s never too early to learn the values of faith and freedom that power our country,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n For Fayetteville High School student Lily Alderson in Arkansas, that crossed a line. Alderson, president of the school\u2019s Young Democrats club, said the governor\u2019s endorsement violates the requirement that governments not favor a particular religion.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re a public school,\u201d Alderson said. \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t be a school \u2014 or a state, even \u2014 that is telling people what they should believe in.\u201d<\/p>\n At the same high school, Lukas Klaus leads the local Turning Point USA chapter. As he sees it, the Republican governors are ensuring conservative voices like his are allowed to be heard.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve heard numerous other stories from around the states of Club America chapters trying to get started where they\u2019re having serious problems with the administration straight-up saying \u2018no,\u2019 \u201d said Klaus. He said he has never heard of a public school disallowing a Young Democrats club.<\/p>\n The push gained momentum after Charlie Kirk\u2019s death<\/p>\n In recent months, the Republican administrations of Nebraska, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Montana, Florida, Tennessee and Indiana have each announced partnerships with Turning Point USA to promote school chapters, called Club America, in every high school in those states.<\/p>\n Already, there are nearly 3,400 Club America chapters across the 50 states, according to Turning Point USA, which says it has more state partnerships in the works.<\/p>\n While the partnerships don\u2019t require schools to establish the conservative clubs, they do make clear that efforts to start the clubs can\u2019t be rejected by school administrators.<\/p>\n Turning Point USA got its start in 2012 on college campuses, promoting itself as a hub for young people committed to conservative values. Kirk<\/a> was the co-founder and the face of the group, known best for his \u201c Prove Me Wrong<\/a> \u201d events on college campuses where he invited students to challenge his conservative views on political and cultural issues. Kirk was killed by a sniper in early September while speaking on a college campus in Utah.<\/p>\n While Kirk was praised by conservatives as a champion of free speech, he was also criticized for comments that many other Americans found hateful toward LGBTQ+ communities, non-Christians, people of color and women.<\/p>\n Some of those critics faced a backlash from Republicans who saw them as dishonoring Kirk, leading to firings<\/a> by universities, sports teams and media companies. Florida\u2019s education commissioner also promised to investigate teachers over objectionable comments about Kirk. In Texas, a teachers union has sued the state\u2019s education department<\/a>, accusing it of an improper \u201cwave of retaliation\u201d against public school employees over their social media comments following the assassination.<\/p>\n Critics say governors are elevating Turning Point over other clubs<\/p>\n The governors\u2019 endorsements of Turning Point USA, to the exclusion of other student clubs, has come under criticism from teachers unions and civil liberties groups.<\/p>\n Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, the state\u2019s largest teachers union, said he could only imagine how Republican leaders would react if a Democratic governor announced they were calling for a democratic socialist club in every high school.<\/p>\n \u201cThey would be running to the press to talk about how awful that is,\u201d Royers said. \u201cHow is this fundamentally any different?\u201d<\/p>\n The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas said the state\u2019s support for the clubs amount to \u201cdifferential treatment based on the content or viewpoint of the clubs, and a problem under the First Amendment.\u201d<\/p>\n Turning Point USA spokesman Matt Shupe called objections from the ACLU hypocritical, noting the civic organization\u2019s mission to protect free speech rights.<\/p>\n \u201cThe state of Arkansas is not forming our chapters; they\u2019re not doing our job or our students\u2019 jobs for us, nor are they saying other groups can\u2019t be formed,\u201d Shupe said in an email. \u201cThey\u2019re simply stating students cannot be blocked from forming a Club America or a TPUSA college chapter when students want to start one.\u201d<\/p>\n Akbarzai reported from New York.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Associated Press\u2019 education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP\u2019s standards<\/a> for working with philanthropies, a list<\/a> of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By MARGERY A. BECK and SAHAR AKBARZAI OMAHA, Neb. 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