A federal judge has dismissed a First Amendment lawsuit challenging Texas Education Agency (TEA) inquiries into educators’ social media posts about Charlie Kirk, according to Austin ABC affiliate KVUE.
What sparked the probes
The Gateway Pundit reported that, following what it described as the 2025 murder of Charlie Kirk, “more than 100” Texas educators were investigated for posts celebrating the killing. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott posted on X in September 2025 that TEA was investigating teachers and staff who “posted and/or shared reprehensible and inappropriate content on social media” about the assassination, sharing an image of a TEA communication.
Union’s First Amendment challenge
In January 2026, the Texas American Federation of Teachers (Texas AFT) sued TEA and Commissioner Mike Morath in federal court, seeking to halt the investigations. The union argued Morath’s letter to superintendents amounted to a vague, overbroad crackdown on off-duty political speech and chilled educators’ speech, leading to leave, reprimands, doxxing, a temporary “do not hire” flag, and at least one firing. The state countered that the letter announced no new policy, pointing to existing ethics rules, and said districts—not TEA—made most employment decisions. These positions are as described in the Gateway Pundit account.
Why the judge tossed the case
On Aug. 21, 2026, U.S. District Judge Alan Albright dismissed the lawsuit, finding the union “failed to prove that Morath’s guidance caused harm to teachers,” KVUE reported. Quoting from the ruling, KVUE said: “The Court does not see any ‘mandate’ in the letter, because the Morath Letter does not announce any new requirement or threat from Commissioner Morath. If the principals were required to report teachers, it was due to in-place policies and regulations as the Morath Letter did not create any new obligations on behalf of the school districts.”
What remains disputed
KVUE reported that Texas AFT sought a court order requiring Morath to retract his directive and issue new guidance clarifying that superintendents need not report legally protected speech. KVUE also reported that numerous Texas AFT members deleted social media posts and accounts, with the lawsuit asserting teachers “remain fearful” about sharing opinions on matters of public concern if their viewpoints do not align with those of the Texas state government.
