Indiana schools see political shift with Turning Point push

• Gov. Mike Braun called on "all Indiana schools and universities to take all steps to facilitate student organizations like Turning Point USA chapters that foster the values of liberty and freedom of speech for the next generation."
• He said the partnership, which includes a voter registration initiative, is about "evening the playing field."

Zoom out: Turning Point USA was founded by Charlie Kirk and has chapters on more than 800 college campuses and in more than 1,000 high schools nationwide. Kirk was killed last year.

Zoom in: Turning Point describes Club America as a "youth movement for freedom-loving American values" and encourages activism focused on gun rights, opposition to socialism and concerns about government overreach.

What they're saying: "I know there are people out there that will probably say … 'this is a partisan thing, or this is super Republican,'" said Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, speaking in support of the initiative at the announcement. "It's not. It's about how we can be better neighbors, better citizens, better stewards of the things that God has given us."

State of play: Politics were front and center at the announcement, with speakers framing the effort as a response to liberal influence in schools.

• "Free speech isn't dangerous to democracy. Silencing conservative students is," said Alex Clark, a podcast host with Turning Point.
• Josh Thifault, a senior director with Turning Point, said the group of high school students assembled should "terrify the left" because they represent the generation that wants to "live in a Christian nation again."

The other side: "Turning Point USA is absolutely not nonpartisan," says Amy Binder, sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University. "If you join a Turning Point club in high school, you are signing onto a conservative worldview and being politicized in a conservative way."

Context: In June 2021, Attorney General Todd Rokita issued a Parents' Bill of Rights that encourages parents to report if "controversial political and social ideologies are brought into Indiana classrooms."

• Later that year, Rokita told schools not to display Black Lives Matter materials because the movement should be treated as a political organization.

• Since 2022, lawmakers have made myriad attempts to ban "divisive" concepts from public school classrooms.

While politics and education policy have always been intertwined, the injection of explicit partisan ideas is relatively new, said Jonathan Collins, an assistant professor of political science and education at Columbia University's Teachers College.

• Republicans, he said, used to be focused on accountability and purely academic outcomes — reading, writing, arithmetic.
• "It's a complete 180 from the direction they were headed just a couple of years ago."

Between the lines: Turning Point gained a foothold on college campuses as a counterpoint to environments that traditionally lean more liberal, says Binder, and now that strategy is expanding to Hoosier high schools.

• "If you're teaching about slavery, you're 'woke.' If you're teaching history, you're 'woke,'" Binder said. "So, you need some other countervailing force to counteract the 'bad' history, and they'll do that with conservatism, free markets, 'limited government.'"
• "And that's what Turning Point has stood for for a long time."

What we're watching: How many Hoosier students take up Braun's call to action and create Club America chapters in their high schools.