Is Oklahoma requiring all high schools to start Turning Point USA chapters? BrieAnna J. Frank, USA TODAY September 27, 2025 at 12:58 AM 0 Is Oklahoma requiring all high schools to start Turning Point USA chapters? A recently announced partnership between the Oklahoma State Department of Education an...
- - Is Oklahoma requiring all high schools to start Turning Point USA chapters?
BrieAnna J. Frank, USA TODAY September 27, 2025 at 12:58 AM
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Is Oklahoma requiring all high schools to start Turning Point USA chapters?
A recently announced partnership between the Oklahoma State Department of Education and Turning Point USA raises questions about the First Amendment, particularly around the legality of government resources being used to promote partisan political activities in schools.
Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters said he was "excited to announce today that every Oklahoma high school will have a Turning Point USA chapter" in a video posted to X on Sept. 23, just under two weeks after Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated while speaking at a Utah university. It is unclear whether his departure from public office on Oct. 1 will affect the new partnership.
USA TODAY reached out to Turning Point USA, the Oklahoma Education Association and the National Education Association for comment.
Here's what to know about the partnership and its potential First Amendment implications:
Will all high schools be required to have a Turning Point USA chapter?
No, according to Walters. Echoing a written statement issued by his department, Walters told USA TODAY in a Sept. 24 interview that the chapters will be student-initiated.
He said his assertion that every high school will have a Turning Point USA chapter was based on the level of interest he said his office has seen from students, parents and teachers in the wake of Kirk's death.
"We've already got the numbers in," Walters said. "I mean it's, it's moving like crazy. We're getting hundreds of requests a day. So this is, this is a done deal. It's a matter of, the schools are going to comply and ensure that they are allowed to do that."
Walters said he anticipated a roughly two-month timeline for all schools in the state to have chapters.
What will the partnership do?
Turning Point USA already offered guidance to high schoolers interested in starting chapters on their campuses.
The benefit of the partnership, Walters said, is that the state will be able to help facilitate the creation of new local chapters by connecting interested students with Turning Point USA resources to help set them up.
But the bigger issue, according to Walters, will be "fighting the unions to make sure that this is allowed to happen." He said he "think(s) they will try to fight" students who want to start chapters, echoing a previous comment in which he suggested the state's teacher unions "would sabotage our kids" and compared them to "terrorist organization(s)."
The superintendent recently announced he would be leaving public office to lead an advocacy group designed to be a conservative alternative to teachers unions he perceives as a liberal threat to education.
Walters told KOKH FOX 25 in Oklahoma City that if any school district were to reject requests to start a chapter on their campus, his department would "go after their accreditation" and "go after their certificates."
The Oklahoma Education Association, the state's largest teacher union, described his earlier comments as "disgusting" and "unprofessional" at the time, the Oklahoman reported.
The union did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment about his announcement of the Turning Point USA partnership.
Is it legal?
The fact that a government entity is promoting a particular political organization among students could lead to claims of viewpoint-based discrimination, according to Mississippi College law professor Franklin Rosenblatt.
"I would not go so far as to say this is a fragrant violation," Rosenblatt said. "I just think those who do it are putting their own government systems they're running at risk."
He referenced a Supreme Court case from the 1940s in which the court ruled public schools cannot force students to salute the American flag.
"If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion, or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein," the opinion read.
1 / 6Charlie Kirk remembered in memorial service at State Farm StadiumA man wearing a MAGA hat holds his phone as people arrive to attend the public memorial service of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk outside State Farm stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on September 21, 2025.
Though students are not being forced to join the Turning Point USA chapters in Oklahoma, there are similar themes in the two cases, Rosenblatt said.
"The fact that a state actor is saying we are going to do what we can and bend over backwards to help one political affiliation does put him at risk," he said. "Not everyone is going to be happy when they're not treated the same."
Will Creeley, legal director at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), said there's a "uniqueness" to a partnership between an education board and a political organization, saying he "just (hasn't) seen anything like it."
"That's really what kind of raises my eyebrows about the situation and certainly warrants further detail and observation," Creeley said.
But until more is known about what the partnership will look like in practice, he said it's unclear whether its mere existence violates the First Amendment.
Walters said the notion of the partnership being unconstitutional is "laughable."
"No one's being forced into it," he told USA TODAY. "If the kids want to join, the kids can join. Kids aren't being told they have to join."
What has the response been?
Walters described the partnership as "one of the key solutions" to combatting political violence and received support from other elected leaders following his announcement.
Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, for example, said in a Sept. 23 X post: "Indiana needs to quickly follow Oklahoma's lead on this and implement (Turning Point USA) chapters in every Hoosier High School!"
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier also said his office "will take legal action against any schools or districts that are preventing TPUSA clubs from existing on campus."
Others, including Crooked Oak Association of Classroom Teachers President Nadine Gallagher and Tulsa Public Schools board member John Croisant, criticized the partnership in interviews with local media.
"We've got all sorts of clubs at schools that students can create on their own, but we're not going to actively be pushing political organizations within our schools," Croisant told KOSU 91.7 FM.
What else has Walters done in office?
The Turning Point USA partnership is far from the first time Walters has stirred controversy.
Days before his Sept. 23 announcement, Walters' department opened investigations into a dozen school districts accused of either not lowering their flags or not holding a moment of silence for Kirk as Walters had ordered, the Oklahoman reported.
He's previously called for the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms, ordered school districts to use the Bible in curriculum and implemented what he described as an "America First" certification for teachers from California or New York who want to work in the state.
President Donald Trump praised Walters in June 2024, describing him in a Truth Social post as someone who is "strong, decisive and knows his 'stuff.'"
Walters' announcement of the Turning Point USA partnership came a day before he announced he was resigning from his position to take a job as CEO of the Teacher Freedom Alliance, an organization that describes itself as a "viable alternative to the Unions."
"Walters fearlessly fights the woke liberal union mob," the organization's website said following the announcement. "(Teacher Freedom Alliance) will take the fight straight to the unions and we will not stop."
Walters' spokesperson did not return USA TODAY's request for comment as to whether Walters' departure would affect the partnership.
BrieAnna Frank is a First Amendment reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected].
USA TODAY's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What to know about plans to have TPUSA at all Oklahoma high schools
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