Oklahoma’s top education official has threatened to ban from the classroom any teacher who “attempts to glorify” the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
But, revoking an educator’s license to teach is not a decision state Superintendent Ryan Walters can make alone. A majority of the Oklahoma State Board of Education would have to agree, and though Walters leads the board, his relationship with a majority of its members has been rocky.
Even when past board members voted in lockstep with Walters, his prior attempts to revoke teaching licenses over political statements have been difficult and protracted legal affairs that sometimes spilled over into court, with educators’ First Amendment rights and their strict professional conduct standards hanging in the balance.
“Let me be clear: any teacher or employee who attempts to glorify this disgusting act of violence will have their teaching license taken from them and will never step foot in an Oklahoma school again,” Walters wrote in an announcement posted to social media on Thursday.
Kirk, a founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was shot to death Wednesday while speaking at Utah Valley University. He is survived by his wife, Erika, and their two young children.
Walters on Saturday identified an Inola Public Schools teacher whom he said his administration is investigating for calling Kirk a “racist, misogynist piece of s—” on video. A Sand Springs Public Schools teacher also is under investigation for a Facebook post about Kirk, Walters wrote on social media.
The Sand Springs middle school teacher had written, “Charlie Kirk died the same way he lived: bringing out the worst in people,” according to screenshots posted on social media by Rep. Gabe Woolley, R-Broken Arrow, who alerted Walters to the teacher’s post.
“This disgraceful rhetoric has no place in schools,” Walters wrote of the teacher’s words. “Charlie Kirk was an amazing man who inspired millions of young adults. This will not be tolerated in Oklahoma classrooms. We are investigating this teacher’s actions.”
The Oklahoma State Department of Education has received numerous reports of teachers’ comments, and each will be investigated on a case-by-case basis, agency spokesperson Madison Cercy said.
“Superintendent Walters has made it clear: there is no place in Oklahoma classrooms for disgusting attacks promoting and justifying political assassinations that disrespects a man who dedicated his life to America, truth, and his Christian faith,” Cercy said after Oklahoma Voice asked how the agency would define glorification of Kirk’s killing.
Employees of public and private entities across the country, including public school teachers, are facing punishment in the workplace for posting negative comments about Kirk on social media, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, an organization advocating for free speech. The foundation condemned both the shooting of Kirk and “the cancel culture machine” that has ensued since his death as attacks on free and open discourse.
In Oklahoma, revoking a teaching certificate most commonly occurs when an educator is convicted of a crime, but during Walters’ tenure as state superintendent, teachers’ political speech has come under fire, as well.
Last year, the state Board of Education revoked the certification of former Norman High School teacher Summer Boismier after a yearslong process that involved overruling the recommendations of a judge, who had reviewed the case and found Walters’ staff failed to prove the teacher deserved such a penalty.
As part of a classroom display opposing book bans, Boismier had posted a QR code that linked to the Brooklyn Public Library’s free online catalog. The state Education Department contended that some of the books, among thousands in the catalog, contained content inappropriate for minors.
Her appeal to overturn the revocation is still pending in Oklahoma County District Court.
After the 2024 assassination attempt of President Donald Trump, Walters tried to revoke two teachers’ certifications over their social media posts. Both cases still are stuck in procedural limbo, and neither educator has had their certification suspended or revoked so far.
One of the teachers, of Ardmore City Schools, made a Facebook comment stating she wished Trump’s shooter “had a better scope.”
The other, of Edmond Public Schools, is facing decertification over a picture he posted five years before the assassination attempt. The 2019 image shows a child wearing a Trump mask, a boy pointing a toy knife at the mask and the teacher grimacing.
In August 2024, the state Board of Education referred both cases to a hearing before an administrative law judge, who would review evidence and testimony before recommending whether the board should take further action.
The teacher from Edmond has not yet had his hearing, according to the Oklahoma City law firm he hired to represent him in the proceedings, White & Weddle P.C.
Records in Oklahoma County District Court show his attorneys have sought a court order to obtain the Education Department’s full investigative file of his revocation case.
The Education Department did not return a request for comment on whether the Ardmore teacher has had her hearing yet.
State law requires strict professional standards for educators that allow teachers to be fired and their certifications to be revoked for certain offenses. That includes punishment for “moral turpitude,” which is defined in part as immoral behavior or failing to faithfully perform a teacher’s duties.
Public schools have “broad authority” to limit educators’ speech both while on the job and outside of work, according to the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teacher union.
Even when an educator is speaking as a private citizen outside of work, a government employer might sometimes limit a teacher’s speech if it is disrespectful or too disruptive, particularly if it sparks protests, complaints from students and families, or criticism from the broader community, according to NEA guidance.
But teachers are still protected under the First Amendment to express their opinions outside the classroom as private citizens, “regardless of whether Superintendent Walters agrees with them,” said Megan Lambert, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma.
“While some narrow categories of speech are not protected by the First Amendment, the Superintendent’s vague description of ‘attempts to glorify’ Charlie Kirk’s death is not among those exceptions,” Lambert said. “In fact, political speech lies at the heart of the First Amendment’s protection, and the state is constitutionally prohibited from punishing teachers because it disagrees with the viewpoint they express.”
Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence.