The controversy over Charlie Kirk’s murder has grown more divisive in Connecticut school systems with a board member in East Haddam resigning over anti-Kirk social media posts while Middletown residents are criticizing a board member for promoting Kirk’s ideology on his Facebook page.
Meanwhile, a protracted social media argument in Farmington only intensified after a board meeting Monday were more than a dozen speakers alternately defended or criticized the chairman for a post on his alleged Facebook page that Kirk’s admirers found offensive.
Posts on the Talk of Farmington CT community page become markedly more combative as the week went on, with more commenters from both sides posting anonymously claiming fear of retaliation. There were more than 130 posts as of Wednesday evening, with some of them bashing people who’d posted without using their names.
The split is becoming increasingly contentious in school systems around the country with scores of teachers in at least 12 states disciplined or being investigated following complaints they posted anti-Kirk messages on their private Facebook pages.
Teachers unions have begun fighting back, with the Texas chapter of the American Federation of Teachers decrying what it called “a political witch hunt” and the Massachusetts Teachers Association warning that a partisan campaign is using Kirk’s murder to silence dissent.
“The ongoing campaign by extreme-right conservatives to discredit and defund public education has grotesquely exploited the shooting death of Charlie Kirk to launch attacks against people commenting on this public figure’s beliefs and statements,” the Massachusetts union said in a statement Tuesday.
Conservative groups that have long complained public schools are too liberal blame the left wing for promoting violence and not condemning Kirk’s death. Top officials in some red states maintained that too many school staffers are pursuing anti-conservative, anti-Christian campaigns.
“Celebrating the assassination of a 31-year-old father of two young kids is disturbing,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis posted on X. “That teachers would be among those who do so is completely unacceptable.”
The state schools superintendent in Oklahoma posted a message declaring “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.”
East Haddam board member Jacquie Endorf stepped down Friday after acknowledging she’d put up a Facebook post referring to people having concern about Kirk’s death “while ignoring the kids actually starving to death in Gaza and the kids being murdered by guns in schools daily.”
This week, parents in Middletown complained to their school board that board member Adam Hayn had used his Facebook page “Adam Hayn, Board of Education Member” to promote education resources from Turning Point USA, the right-wing organization that Kirk co-founded.
“Turning Point USA is a non-profit organization that advocates for conservative Christian politics,” parent Emily Roback said, and Hayn’s post implied that the city’s school system endorsed it.
Parent Colleen Sylvester agreed, and said Hayn, a Republican, had previously posted support for school voucher programs, “and that is directly taking money away from our students in public school.”
The school system declined to answer questions about that controversy Wednesday, but issued a statement saying “The Middletown Board of Education and Middletown public schools have received several complaints regarding the content of a recent social media post from a board member. The views expressed in this post do not reflect those of the Board of Education, or that of Middletown public schools.”
Hayn did not delete his post, but issued a statement confirming he’d shared information about free resources available from Turning Point to a local parents group on Facebook.
“This was done purposely so parents could decide if they wanted their children to look at them. In no way was this endorsed by Middletown public schools,” he said. “They were lessons on economics, the U.S. Constitution, and the election process in this country. Never did I ever imagine anything to come of this, as this is not the first time I’ve shared educational resources. I apologize to anyone upset by my actions.”