Another Charlie Kirk post. Sorry. Important.

[applegrove]

Texas teachers union sues state education agency for investigating social media posts about Charlie Kirk www.texastribune.org/2026/01/06/t... #ProudBlue Texas educators who did not “properly praise Charlie Kirk and mourn his death” were to be reported to the state. Over 350 were. Some were fired.

— Marty Taylor (@realmartyt7.bsky.social) 2026-01-06T19:50:48.001Z

[electric_blue68]

1. Woah, Fuck Republican Texans in power!

[walkingman]

2. Simple question - what does that have to do with education?

What kind of teachers can you expect to attract? I never heard of Charlie Kirk until I read an article about him handing out t-shirts at UT-Austin. Texas is weird, and not in a good way.

[applegrove]

3. They wanted to scapegoat teachers using the death of Kirk

and targeting those that didn't show enough fealty. Remember they want to destroy public school teachers because they are smart and compassionate, and often support Democrats (finacially too). That is what it has to do with education. They were making examples of teachers because they are the backbone of the middle class. And they want the middle class weak and afraid.

[Wednesdays]

5. They don't just want the middle class weak and afraid...

...they want them GONE.

[SergeStorms]

32. It's Texas.

A deep red state where education isn't valued, especially for voters. The Texas GOP overlords are educated. After all, you have to be slightly smarter than the morons you want to control en masse.

[Joinfortmill]

4. Jeezus

[Hassler]

6. If only the teachers had backed a baker

Not wanting to make a cake for a gay wedding.

[SunSeeker]

7. Holy shit. The Dept. of Ed. actually SEARCHED teachers' social media posts about Kirk?!

That is unbelievable. They should win that lawsuit, even in Texas.

[chouchou]

8. WTF! Texas needs to be another country. Perhaps Tex-ass-hole HUD.

Hillbillies..Uneducated...Dumbfuks

[Codifer]

17. At present

Texas is Baja Oklahoma.

Not a compliment.

[chouchou]

20. I understand. I was looking at the State ranking the other day and after looking at Oklahoma..

..it's definitely not OK. Oklahoma is in a race to the bottom with Mississippi.

[La Coliniere]

9. Texas gets this year's Stasi Award!

Freedom of speech looks like it doesn’t exist in the Lone Star State. Good on the AFT, this infringement of speech needs to be seriously challenged and those who were prosecuted need their jobs returned to them and administrators who agreed to torment teachers need to be canned…for good.

[ShazzieB]

13. Fuck them indeed!

Sounds like the separation of church and state is nonexistent in the Lone Star State.

[mwmisses4289]

31. Well, the repub majority is working on that.

We'll see what happens in November, as for the first time since the 1980's there is a Dem in every state race.

[Ms. Toad]

10. The article linked to does not contain the quote in the post.

Specifically - nothing in the article suggests that complaints were about educators who either (1) did not properly praise or (2) did not mourn Kirk's death. (That phrase didn't turn up in any of the first couple of pages of a google search, either.)

Acting on the complaints likely violates free speech protections, anyway. But accurate reporting matters.

[applegrove]

11. 95 complaints still to be investigated. I'll leave it up.

[Ms. Toad]

12. The number of complaints, investigated or not, has nothing to do with accurately quoting the article.

Or even accurately paraphrasing it (although it is improper to put a paraphrase in quotation marks). There is simply no such phrase in the article. I followed both links, did a find in page search - and did a separate google search to see what other article the quote might have come from.

There is no suggestion in the article that individuals were being reported for failing to praise, or failing to mourn Kirk.

[Celerity]

24. Please give the link to that actual quote that your OP's social media post claims was made.

This quote:

Texas educators who did not “properly praise Charlie Kirk and mourn his death” were to be reported to the state. Over 350 were. Some were fired.

The article linked in your OP social media post does NOT contain that quote.

The BlueSky poster added it in.

If you do not have a link for that claim you should pull your OP, as it, at that point, is potential misinformation.

[paleotn]

14. Get the hell out of Texas if you can

I've been to TX many times and for the life of me I can't figure out why anyone would live there on purpose.

[IcyPeas]

16. My neighbor wants to move there...

She complains about Gavin Newsom... a few years ago she was complaining about Kamala Harris. Signed petitions to recall Newsom and D.A. Gascon. (Imagine trading them in for Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton!) I chat with her occasionally when we happen to meet at the elevator or in the laundry room.... I only ever ask how her doggies are.... never about anything in the realm of politics. She posts on the NextDoor web site that's how I know some of this. But recently she mentioned to me she's having a hard time affording the rent and is thinking of moving to Houston.... go figure.

[paleotn]

28. Isn't much cheaper in Houston anymore

If she’s looking for cheaper, perhaps Indiana.

Nothing against TX outside of politics. It’s just not my thing.

[BurnDoubt]

36. It's her LANDLORD. AND GREED. AND TARIFFS.

NOT Gavin.
In point of fact, ALL the Laws are the product of deliberations by Lawfully Elected Legislators empowered by voters in their Districts.
Just like in Texas.
Up ’til now, of course.
Perhaps she’ll be happier under an unaccountable and uncaring Authoritarian who NEVER pumped-or-payed-for a gallon of gas or bought a dozen eggs in his life.
The Dumb goes deep.
And, YES, PLEASE… move to Texas and take your Stupidity with you. (Win-Win… and take your MAGA vote with you.)

[Firestorm49]

15. WTF? Our Constitutional rights are no more? Man, we're in deep shit.

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution protects several fundamental rights, including the freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and the right to petition the government. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, as part of the Bill of Rights.

[flashman13]

18. If you want to understand (maybe you don't) Texas, you need to read Michener's historical novel Texas.

You will learn that Texas has never put a very high value on education. Get 'em stupid and keep 'em that way.

The only real reason they have a university system is to provide venues for football teams.

[RedWhiteBlueIsRacist]

19. My advice to Texans would be to study Aztec culture

and maybe think about changing the name texas to something a little more civilized.

[Martin68]

21. Texas requires teachers to praise and mourn a hate-filled partisan or be fired? Texas is already an authoritarian state.

[Kaleva]

26. No. The actual source doesn't say that

The tweet in the OP is a lie.

[applegrove]

29. People were terminated. From the link:

Why the Texas American Federation of Teachers is suing: The union cites the cases of four members who it believes faced unfair disciplinary action for private social media remarks related to Kirk’s death. Those actions include termination, being subjected to investigations, or having their employment records negatively marked.

[Kaleva]

34. Your OP makes the false claim that they were terminated for not praising Kirk

[applegrove]

37. The next paragraph from the article:

In each of those cases, the teachers faced discipline “solely for their speech, without any regard to whether the posts disrupted school operations in any way,” according to the complaint. The teachers’ comments ranged from criticizing Kirk for statements he made about Black Americans to condemning the activist’s stance on immigration, the suit states.

[Martin68]

38. I read the article, and I am aware that Texas did not state that a failure to praise or mourn Kirk was the reason for

termination. However, the fact that their posts were targeted because they did the opposite of mourning and praising suggest that if they has mourned and praised Kirk they would not have been targeted. The result is exactly the same. My take on the OP is that they extrapolated from the actual action and rationale given and concluded that failure to mourn and praise was the real reason for the attack on the teachers. I don't think the OP suggests those were the words used by the prosecutors - they were putting 2 and 2 together and coming up with 4.

[Betty Boom]

22. That's not what it says

I don’t find anywhere where it says they’re being investigated for not praising him. I agree that expressing their opinion should not get them fired — but I think it’s important to report exactly what it is that they were fired for or reported for. It wasn’t anything about failing to praise Kirk.

[Kaleva]

23. Sad to see 120 DUers recommend a lie

And people complain about Fox viewers!

At last there’s a couple of people in this thread pushing back on the spreading of disinformation.

[MaineNative]

25. Maine high school teacher fired for comments about Charlie Kirk's assassination

"On Sept. 11, a day after the assassination, Brewer told a freshman class that “he didn’t care that Charlie Kirk died,” RSU 67 board Chair Rebbecca Hanscom said at last month’s meeting. Brewer also “found it ironic that Charlie Kirk was shot,” Hanscom said, referencing a video of Kirk that circulated on social media in the wake of the assassination in which the right-wing political activist had argued that a certain number of gun deaths would have to be tolerated in order to uphold the Second Amendment."

https://www.pressherald.com/2026/01/06/maine-high-school-teacher-fired-for-comments-about-charlie-kirks-assassination/

[Faux pas]

27. WTF!?!????

[Old Crank]

30. Sue them for 1 year's state budget.

[BurnDoubt]

33. SO........

They don’t get the same Constitutional Right to Free Speech “Charlie Died For”?
Did Texas expunge the definition of “Irony” from Webster’s Dictionary?
Clearly unlawful “Over-Reach”.
Looking back, Dems should have burned the playbook and rounded-up all the actual “Seditionists” before Inauguration Day and deported them to Gitmo. Shoulda-Coulda-Woulda.

[Emile]

35. I don't recognize my country anymore.