The state principal of Oklahoma announced a chapter that plans to award U.S. turning points at every high school in the state, saying it will confront “radical left-wing teachers unions” and their “wake-inculcation.”
The group said it requested a start chapter in the chapters of the conservative youth group in college and high schools after being killed earlier this month.
Oklahoma is the first state in which the government is involved in promoting these chapters. Oklahoma Principal Ryan Walters detailed in a press release Tuesday how students can start the Club America chapter by collecting at least three students from the same school and completing a charter agreement. The turning point will then help the club gain teacher sponsorship and official recognition and send materials like the “activism suite.”
“We will put TPUSA on every high school campus in Oklahoma,” Walter said in a press release. “Charlie Kirk inspired a generation who loves America, speaks boldly and never shy away from debate. Our children must be involved and active. We will fight liberal propaganda, pushed by radical leftists and teachers unions. Our battle is now on.”
In the video posted on X, Walters further introduces the “radical left” who “dominate the classroom and will awaken indoctrinate.” “They fight against parents' rights, drive parents out of the classroom, and lie to our children,” he said. The turning point chapter will allow children to participate in “a dialogue about America's greatness, a dialogue around American values.”
When a local journalist asked what would happen to a school, saying that it wouldn't open a chapter in the group, Walters said he would follow the school's certification. “If they decide to reject clubs that promote civic participation here, they will face the danger of not being a school district,” he said. “In this case, everything will be on the table.”
Nadine Gallagher, a teacher in Oklahoma, told local news stations that if students want to start a club, she is “going all out.” But, she said, “I don’t like to force.”
Andrew Kolvet, a spokesman for the U.S. turning point, said the organization had received “a lot of inquiries to start a new chapter”, especially after the memory of Kirk on Sunday.
“We are now asking over 120,000 queries. Even with consumption and repetition in mind, we have TPUSA or Club America chapters on every HS and university campus in the United States,” Kolvet wrote on X.
According to USA Today USA Today, the Turning Point chapter organizes conservative principles, the group’s activist toolkit “from voter registration, freedom of speech and gun access to a kit titled “Make America healthy again.” Other items at Turning Point include a “surveillance list” and a school board watch list that identifies people with left-wing views. The Turning Points chapter on the University Campus also hosts conservative speakers.
Kirk often takes college speech tours to debate students and debate in person, and has conducted podcasts on racism, sexism, or other derogatory podcasts, including through the ongoing “great alternative strategies” of immigration, Islam is a “threat to the United States” and “in cities, black people in America bring you black people, thus putting black people in trouble.”
Walters has come under fire for promoting repetitive examples of religion and right-wing politics in Oklahoma schools. He tried to ask schools in the state to show videos of his prayers. He worked hard to establish the country's first Catholic public charter school, which the U.S. Supreme Court opposed in May.
He bought the Donald Trump brand Bible that he wanted to put into the classroom. He has installed activists behind Libs, the anti-LGBTQ+ group, such as Tiktok, and leaders of the State Board of Education Heritage Foundation.
He also said he wanted to require teachers who teach in Oklahoma from free countries to complete the “America First” certification. He pushed for the inclusion of the 2020 election fraud conspiracy in the state's high school social studies course.
Walters also issued a press release on September 17 claiming that the teacher who made a derogatory statement about Kirk after his death will be fired.
Walters said his office received 224 reports on “defamatory comments” about school staff Kirk, 30 reports “not observing moments of silence,” and three school reports that refused to lower Kirk’s flag. The department identified 70 certified teachers who “provided statements about Charlie Kirk’s murder.”
“Any teacher in Oklahoma classrooms and any school that refuses to attend the Silence and/or lowers the Charlie Kirk flag will not teach in Oklahoma classrooms,” the press release said.
Oklahoma ranks the lowest in public education quality, with a recent survey putting the state at No. 50.