The American Federation of Teachers of Texas, one of the state’s largest teachers organizations, announced Tuesday that it’s suing the Texas Education Agency over investigations into social media posts made by teachers.
Here’s a recap of how we got here.
TEA investigates teachers over posts after Charlie Kirk’s death
Last September, several Republican state officials, including Gov. Greg Abbott, called for the firing of teachers who made what they called inappropriate comments on social media after the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. Abbott called celebrations of Kirk’s death a “problem in our society that we need to come to grips with.”
The Education Lab
Later that month, TEA officials confirmed that they were investigating more than 300 complaints against teachers. Records obtained through a public information request show that review included complaints made against numerous North Texas teachers, including educators for Dallas, Denton, Fort Worth, Frisco, Plano and Richardson ISDs.
Mike Morath’s letter
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath said posts that celebrated or made light of Kirk’s death could be a violation of the Educators’ Code of Ethics.
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In a policy letter to district superintendents following the shooting, Morath said district leaders must report “instances of inappropriate conduct” to TEA. The commissioner said he would recommend the suspension of the licenses of teachers who made controversial posts about Kirk’s killing, making them ineligible to teach in Texas public schools.
So far, that hasn’t happened. On Tuesday, TEA spokesman Jake Kobersky said all but 95 of the investigations were closed, with the agency taking no action against the teachers’ credentials.
What does AFT want?
In its lawsuit, AFT Texas is asking federal courts to block the agency from pursuing its 95 remaining investigations, and order it to rescind its policy requiring district leaders to report teachers’ social media posts to TEA. In a news conference Tuesday in Austin, Randi Weingarten, national president of AFT, called the case “the classic definition of a First Amendment violation.”
“Mr. Morath’s letter has been used to target, retaliate and discipline AFT members who simply expressed a viewpoint that Mr. Morath disagrees with,” she said.
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TEA’s response to the lawsuit
Kobersky, the TEA spokesperson, said the agency wouldn’t comment on pending litigation. The remaining 95 cases are still under investigation, he said.
The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.
The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron and Phyllis Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.