A conservative education leader in Oklahoma has declared that Turning Point USA chapters will be established in every high school across the state following the death of founder Charlie Kirk.

Ryan Walters, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, revealed on Tuesday that the state is collaborating with the conservative group to create Club America chapters in public, private, and homeschool environments.

‘Charlie Kirk inspired a generation to love America, to speak boldly and to never shy away from debate,’ he said in a statement.

‘We will fight back against the liberal propaganda, pushed by the radical left and the teachers unions,’ Walters continued. ‘Our fight starts now.’

In a video message directed at parents, Walters emphasized the significance of what he called “a battle for the future of our country,” accusing teachers’ unions of misleading students about the true history of America.

The new student clubs would then engage in discussions about the founding of the country, American values and civic activity.

‘We want you here,’ Walters said, turning his attention to the students of the state. ‘We want an open discussion. We want a back and forth on these issues.

‘We want you here. We want you here whether you agree or disagree. We want to debate. We want to discuss,’ he continued.

The education official then claimed that the ‘radical left that wants to stop free speech is waking parents up to the importance of organizations like Turning Point USA.’

‘We’ve never seen anything like the engagement here in Oklahoma,’ Walters said. 

‘I think it will be very, very quickly that we’ll be able to hit that goal of getting a Turning Point in every high school in the state.’

The state official has since clarified his comments to USA Today, insisting that his assertion that every high school in the state will have a 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 moving like crazy. We’re getting hundreds of requests a day.

‘So this is, this is a done deal. It’s a matter of [whether] the schools are going to comply and ensure that they are allowed to do that.’

Interest in starting Turning Point chapters across the country has also soared, with spokesman Andrew Kolvet announcing on social media that the group has received more than 120,000 inquiries since Kirk’s assassination in Utah.

‘Even accounting for attrition and duplicates, we are on the cusp of having a TPUSA or Club America chapter in every high school and college campus in America,’ Kolvet wrote on Tuesday.

In Oklahoma, Walters said he expects all schools in the state to have chapters within the next two months. 

Turning Point USA requires each Club America chapter to have at least three student officers and a signed charter agreement.

Students must also take on at least one ‘activism initiative’ per semester, and many schools require faculty sponsors for student organizations.

New Turning Point USA chapters must also submit their signed charters ahead of the school year, which it considers as running from June through May. 

The benefit of the state partnership, Walters said, is that state officials can help facilitate the creation of new chapters by connecting interested students with Turning Point USA resources to help start a club.

He said he now expects teachers unions to ‘try to fight’ students who want to start chapters- and when asked by a local reporter what would happen to a school that does not open a chapter, Walters said he would go after the school’s accreditation.

‘They would be in danger of not being a school district if they decided to reject a club that is here to promote civic engagement,’ the schools official said.

‘Everything would be on the table in that scenario,’ he added ominously.

Still, some school officials have remained defiant. 

John Croisant, who serves as Tulsa Public Schools 5th District Board Member, said Walters’ call for a conservative political organization at Oklahoma schools is just a stunt and a distraction from the state’s faltering public education system.

He told KGOU that Tulsa Public Schools will not be creating a chapter ‘and he can’t make us. Because that’s not part of accreditation.’

If students want to participate in clubs and other activities at schools they can already do that and if they want to create a club, there are existing channels.

Nadine Gallagher, a middle school English teacher, also told KOCO that if the students want to start a club she’s ‘all for it’ but said she doesn’t like ‘forced anything.’ 

Questions also remain about the legality of the government promoting a particular political organization.

The Turning Point chapters organize around conservative principles and the activism kits sent to each club promote issues including free speech, gun rights. Some are even labeled ‘Make America Healthy Again.’

‘I would not go so far as to say this is a flagrant violation,’ Mississippi College Law Professor Franklin Rosenblatt said. ‘I just think those who do it are putting their own government systems they’re running at risk.’ 

‘The fact that a state actor is saying we are going to do what we can and bend over backward to help one political affiliation does put him at risk,’ the law professor said of Walters.

‘Not everyone is going to be happy when they’re not treated the same.’

Will Creeley, legal director of Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, also said there is a ‘uniqueness’ to the partnership between the state and Turning Point USA. He said it ‘warrants further detail and observation’ to determine whether it violates the First Amendment.

But Walters said the notion that the partnership is unconstitutional is ‘laughable.’

‘No one’s being forced into it,’ he explained. ‘If the kids want to join, the kids can join. Kids aren’t being told they have to join.’ 

The state superintendent has now received some support, with Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith posting on X that ‘Indiana needs to quickly follow Oklahoma’s lead 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.’ 

Yet it seems Walters has taken his support for Turning Point USA further, as his department has previously announced it is also investigating more than 70 teachers for their posts following Kirk’s assassination.

‘We’ve had a record amount of parents reach out on those indivudal posts as well, saying “Look, I don’t want this person in front of my kids. I don’t want this person in a classroom,”‘ Walters said at a recent meeting.

He claimed that some of the posts on social media show that the teachers want to ‘glorify the assassination’ and said they would ‘love to see other people killed in the way that Charlie Kirk was.’

Additionally, Walters said he will continue to punish districts that did not observe a moment of silence for the late Turning Point USA founder earlier this month.

‘I think it’s absolutely disgusting that the left would refuse to take a moment of silence,’ he said. ‘We will again be pursuing all necessary actions and repercussions around that.’

In total, Walters has said that his office has received 224 reports of ‘defamatory comments’ about Kirk by school staff, 30 reports of ‘not observing a moment of silence’ and three reports of schools that refused to lower their flags following Kirk’s assassination.

However, the Oklahoma official also recently announced he would be leaving public office to serve as the CEO of Teacher Freedom Alliance, an advocacy group designed to be a conservative alternative to teachers’ unions.

‘Walters fearlessly fights the woke liberal union mob,’ the group said after his position was announced, adding that it ‘will take the fight straight to the unions and we will not stop.’

It now remains unclear what will become of the department’s investigations and partnership with Turning Point USA following Walters’ departure.