Texas sued over investigations into teachers’ speech after Kirk’s death
HOUSTON (NYT) — The Texas branch of the American Federation of Teachers sued the state’s education agency in federal court Tuesday, challenging investigations against scores of teachers in the state over comments they made after the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The union’s lawsuit was among the first to oppose a broad effort by conservatives on social media, and some Republican state leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, to punish educators and others who criticized Kirk or his views in the aftermath of his killing Sept. 10.
In the lawsuit, the union argues that the state’s education department, the Texas Education Agency, violated the free speech rights of public schoolteachers by directing state officials and school districts to investigate comments about Kirk made mostly on their own private social media accounts and outside of work.
The state’s policy represents an “unconstitutional viewpoint-based restriction on speech,” the lawsuit argues.
“This was a state-sponsored attack on teachers because of what they expressed privately to their friends and colleagues and family,” Randi Weingarten, president of the national American Federal of Teachers, said in a phone interview.
“You can’t have First Amendment rights for some and not for all,” Weingarten said. Even if some of the statements about Kirk were “noxious,” she added, “people have to have this fundamental right to express themselves.”
The suit names the state education agency and its commissioner, Mike Morath, as defendants. In a letter to superintendents soon after Kirk’s killing, Morath said the agency had seen “reprehensible” and “vile” postings by some teachers and instructed superintendents to report other “inappropriate” content to the state agency. He said the postings could violate the state’s code of ethics for teachers.
Abbott, in a social media post in September, said that the state was investigating more than 100 teachers “whose actions called for or incite violence following the Charlie Kirk assassination.”
The state’s investigations could strip teachers of their certifications, preventing them from teaching, said Zeph Capo, president of the Texas AFT. The lawsuit filed Tuesday asks a federal court in Austin to stop the state agency from taking that step and to halt its ongoing investigations.
Trump says wife Melania hates his dancing: ‘It’s so unpresidential’
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — President Donald Trump draws cheers from supporters when he dances on stage at his political rallies, but he revealed on Tuesday that first lady Melania Trump is not a fan of dancing Donald.
“My wife hates when I do this,” Trump said during a meandering speech to Republican lawmakers in Washington. “She’s a very classy person, right? She said, ‘It’s so unpresidential.’ I said, ‘But I did become president.’”
The first lady was not present at the event.
Trump often breaks out his signature moves at the end of his speeches as the song “YMCA” plays over the loudspeakers, extending his arms in a herky-jerky way while the rest of his body remains stiff.
“I said everybody wants me to dance,” Trump told the lawmakers, recounting what he said was a conversation with his wife. “‘Darling, it’s not presidential.’ She actually said, ‘Could you imagine FDR dancing?’ She said that to me.”