Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath recently met with a top official from Turning Point USA to discuss creating chapters of the conservative youth organization in all of the state's high schools, days before Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick promised $1 million in campaign funds to help bring the project to life.
The meeting between Morath and Turning Point USA Senior Director Josh Thifault took place on Nov. 3 in Austin, according to records obtained by The Texas Tribune.
The two gathered in person weeks after Thifault reached out to the agency to ask when the commissioner "would like to speak with me” about the possibility of a partnership to establish Turning Point USA chapters in high schools across Texas, similar to initiatives launched in other states.
After their meeting, Thifault followed up with Morath via email to provide additional information about the right-wing group’s existing partnerships with Florida and Oklahoma.
“Both states have issued stern warnings against anyone attempting to stop students from forming Club America chapters,” Thifault wrote, referring to the official name of the clubs.
It is unclear if Morath formally agreed to a partnership with Turning Point USA or on any next steps. Responding to questions from the Tribune about the meeting, including how such a partnership would work and what precedent exists of the commissioner meeting with national politically affiliated organizations, Texas Education Agency spokesperson Jake Kobersky said, “Commissioner Morath meets with a variety of stakeholders interested in public education.”
Thifault did not respond to an email, phone call or text message for comment about the meeting. Doug Deason, a conservative activist and donor whom Thifault copied on the emails scheduling the conversation, also did not respond to an email from the Tribune.
Since the Sept. 10 killing of the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk — the Turning Point USA founder praised by conservatives as a champion of free speech and criticized for comments that many found hateful toward LGBTQ+ Americans, women and people of color — Republicans’ interest in the group has surged. Turning Point USA organizers have said they received tens of thousands of new inquiries about starting local chapters while claiming that students looking to participate in the organization have encountered administrative pushback.
Officials in at least two states outside of Texas — Florida and Oklahoma — have announced plans to establish Turning Point USA clubs on their high school campuses. Oklahoma’s Ryan Walters, the far-right activist who resigned as the state’s education chief, previously said that students would initiate the clubs and that Turning Point USA would provide them with organizational support. Walters and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have also threatened to intervene if school leaders refuse to acknowledge the youth clubs, including by going after schools’ accreditation.
Earlier this month, four days after Morath and Thifault met, Patrick spoke out in support of establishing chapters of Turning Point USA on every Texas college and high school campus. Texas has more than 1,200 public school districts and charters that educate roughly 5.5 million students. The state has more than 200 colleges.
The Turning Point USA clubs promote themselves as champions of “American exceptionalism, the importance of constitutional rights, and standing for freedom,” according to their website. They aim to “build strong networks, spearhead impactful initiatives, help students register to vote, and inspire meaningful conversations about the foundations of a free society,” the website states.
The organization’s work on college campuses — including a so-called professor watchlist targeting instructors it sees as promoting liberal viewpoints — has also stirred tension as faculty members say they have faced harassment from conservatives. Petitions calling for the removal of Turning Point USA chapters in public schools across the country have emerged more recently, with some students and parents condemning the national group for what they describe as “racist, homophobic, and sexist hate speech on college campuses across America.”
Ricky Adam Jr., the Texas regional manager for Turning Point USA, told lawmakers during a Nov. 12 legislative hearing that he has heard from “so many students across the state who want to get involved and want to talk peacefully and respectfully with their classmates about topics they deem important.”
“We will put a Turning Point USA or Club America in every single high school in the state. You have my word,” Adam Jr. said. “We have a huge announcement just around the corner, so stay tuned.”
It was unclear what announcement he was referring to. Turning Point USA did not respond to the Tribune’s request for comment.
The meeting between Morath and Thifault happened several weeks after the Texas education chief announced that his agency would investigate hundreds of complaints concerning teachers accused of making inappropriate remarks about Kirk’s killing. Legal experts and teacher advocacy groups criticized the investigation, calling it an attack on educators’ right to free speech.
During a Nov. 3 event at the University of Texas at Austin, Morath said that the agency had not yet disciplined any educators tied to the complaints.
“Some of those complaints are clearly people that are personally settling scores with others they don't like, and those cases will just get closed,” Morath said. “The ones that we're going after, from an enforcement perspective, are very clearly violations of the educator code of conduct.”
Zeph Capo, president of the Texas American Federation of Teachers, had taken issue with Morath calling for investigations into educators’ social media activity. Capo told the Tribune in September that Morath, who was appointed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, was getting involved in politics by criticizing comments he personally disliked, rather than leaving it to school districts and the general public to submit any reports of alleged misconduct.
Morath’s meeting with Turning Point USA, Capo said Tuesday, raises more doubts and questions about not just the fairness of the investigations but also the commissioner’s motivations. The union leader said he is not opposed to the conservative organization’s presence at universities. But groups with such a divisive political presence, he said, are inappropriate for the K-12 environment.
Disclosure: University of Texas at Austin has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.