Charlie Kirk is a pro-Trump activist with a huge following and an organization called “Turning Points USA.” He plans to open a chain of private schools to teach America-First ideology. This is a frightening turn of events. Partisan schools that indoctrinate students.
His plans were temporarily stymied when one of his key contractors backed out after learning that he was the client. But he is forging ahead, with a projection that he will collect $40 million annually in revenue by indoctrinating children into his world view.
Turning Point USA, the youth group led by pro-Trump activist Charlie Kirk, sought to entice investors last year with a new foray in the culture wars: an academy aimed at students failed by schools “poisoning our youth with anti-American ideas.”
A company in the early stages of realizing Kirk’s vision was anticipating millions in revenue from Turning Point Academy — part of an effort to market K-12 curriculum to families seeking an “America-first education.”
A document circulated within StrongMind, an education firm in Arizona where programmers had begun work on the project, noted plans to open the online academy by the fall of 2022 and assessed its “potential to generate over $40MM in gross revenue at full capacity (10K students).”
The firm’s plans disintegrated last week amid a Washington Post investigation and backlash from StrongMind employees concerned about the prospect of Turning Point-directed lesson plans. A key subcontractor tapped to prepare course material also backed out after learning that Kirk’s group was the ultimate client. The 28-year-old activist, who boasts 1.7 million Twitter followers, has championed former president Donald Trump’s baseless claim that widespread fraud cost him reelection and has scorned demands for racial justice that followed the 2020 murder of a Black man at the hands of the Minneapolis police, calling George Floyd a “scumbag.”
Kirk still intends to open the academy, though with other partners, said a spokesman, Andrew Kolvet, who called the agreement with StrongMind “nonbinding and nonexclusive.”
The early blueprint for Turning Point Academy — laid out in detail for the first time in documents and chat logs reviewed by The Post — points to the growing market for education and media serving families disgruntled with public schools, a flash point in many communities and a key issue on the campaign trail. The quest to raise revenue by allowing families to bypass traditional schools and buy curriculum more aligned with their political worldview worried some experts and watchdogs.
“This sounds like a very slippery slope,” said Carole Basile, dean of Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. “It depends on what the curriculum actually looks like, but to move in the direction of letting partisan identity decide what is being taught, that feels new and worrying…
Turning Point USA, founded by Kirk in 2012, rose to prominence by maintaining a “professor watchlist” promising to unmask liberal instructors. The nonprofit prospered under Trump’s presidency, raising more than $80 million from undisclosed donors, according to its four most recent tax filings. It announced its intentions to launch an academy last year, in the midst of an inflamed debate over how much schools should focus on racial inequity.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
What’s Behind The Right Wing Frenzy By Jon Skolnik
https://www.salon.com/2022/02/08/whats-behind-the-right-wing-book-ban-frenzy-big-money-and-a-long-term-plan/?scrolla=5eb6d68b7fedc32c19ef33b4
But Dr. Maurice T. Cunningham, a political science professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston and the author of “Dark Money and the Politics of School Privatization,” argues that their real goals are far more ambitious.
“There is absolutely no doubt in my mind — zero — that what groups like Moms for Liberty and Parents Defending Education are doing is structural and aimed at the destruction and ultimate privatization of America’s public school system,” Cunningham, wrote by email. “These groups are communications operations and highly networked into The Daily Caller, Breitbart and Fox News. They have gotten educators fired and attacked online. They want to create chaos,” he concluded, “to destroy trust in public education and draw funding away.”
They are also “networked” into conservative religion’s media, including both of the major sects.
No surprise there. If you can get taxpayers to support religious charters, you can get them to support “America-First ideology” charters.
Here’s what’s behind the right-wing frenzy. It’s an existential crisis for Repugnicans:
This is from an article I read some years back. I think it shows exactly what the religious right intends:
This is Betsy DeVos’s and the radical religious right’s ultimate goal (Gary North works/worked with Betsy DeVos):
“Gary North explains why getting students out of public schools is key to the Christian dominionist camp. “So let us be blunt about it: we must use the doctrine of religious liberty to gain independence for Christian schools until we train up a generation of people who know that there is no religious neutrality, no neutral law, no neutral education, and no neutral civil government. Then they will get busy in constructing a Bible-based social, political, and religious order which finally denies the religious liberty of the enemies of God.”
Here is the link to the entire article:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/betsy-devos-secretary-of-_b_13303980
Thanks for the post and link.
State Catholic Conferences promote school choice legislation, some co-host school choice rallies in state capitols with the Koch’s AFP.
In states like Indiana, Catholics take credit for the state’s school choice legislation (Southwestern Indiana Catholic Community Newspaper, 4-2021, “An Insider’s Look…”
Any guess as to how many are going to fall for this??? Patriotic the Yanx are, no question, but this patriotism should not be taken advantage of.
This article underscores the problem of sending unaccountable public dollars into private hands. When there is limited accountability, twisted opportunists like Kirk will take advantage. America does not need MAGA schools any more than it needs Wiccan schools. Why should we be wasting public dollars on any schools that are connected to political or religious beliefs, particularly if these schools will promote more dissension? What the young people of this country need is investment in public schools that are accountable and staffed by professional educators. Public schools are public assets that aspire to bring diverse groups of young people together to promote mutual respect and understanding. In my work as an ESL teacher, I had a front row seat in watching young people forge relationships across socioeconomic and racial backgrounds. Our fragmented society requires more tolerance and acceptance of individual differences. Diverse public schools work well when they are supported by public investment.
Out sourcing teachers has already occurred in some public schools. States like Arizona and some underfunded urban districts have already imported teachers from the Philippines. If those that seek to destroy public schools prevail, there will be a widespread decline in the quality of the education that our youth receive.
Realizing that with wordpress one can’t go back and change text once it has been submitted. . . .
“America does not need MAGA schools any more than it needs Wiccan schools.”
It’s not a matter of need, it’s a matter of greed.
But to put Wicca in the same thought as MAGA is a low blow. (I don’t think you intended it that way, rt) But to show what I mean how about this thought–“America does not need MAGA schools any more than it needs Catholic, Jewish, Islamic or fundie Xtian schools.” We don’t need any of those schools as it is constitutionally mandated that the state provide public schools for ALL.
And I’m not a fan of Wicca woo-woo nonsense either.
OMG! My husband and I are retired, proud, public school special educators. I annually go to the Capitol in Tallahassee to let our legislators know they need to support all students through quality, free public schools. As I told our state rep and senator, we don’t have the luxury of choosing which students we educate, nor do we judge our students or their families. We work with all our students and give them the best path for their future success in life.
Are some WaPo editorial staff reluctant to acknowledge their roles in promoting privatization now that Charlie Kirk seized the policy as an opportunity?
Are some Ivy League-educated policy influencers reluctant to account for their roles in the environment that potentially forces taxpayers to fund schools like Charlie Kirk’s, for example, men like the founder of Stand for Children and his brother, who is the Gates’ education guy in Biden’s administration?
When they advance the Robin Hood Foundation’s policy and implementation, are the organization’s board members, like Marion Wright Edelman and Roland Fryer, reluctant to
view Kirk’s schools as indicators of a potential problem with privatization?
I criticize Susan Rice for her inability to persuade her Republican, Trump-supporting son
that democracy is threatened by the GOP. I question Biden’s judgement in thinking that Rice could persuade others when she can’t persuade her own son.
I view the foresight of the person who brought the first charter school to Mississippi (Rice’s speechwriter, Ravi Gupta) as dubious, given that Charlie Kirk is capitalizing on the privatization playbook. How much privatization does Gupta view as consistent with his claim of a “progressive” platform?
I don’t view Rahm Emanuel, Mayor 1%, as a progressive nor, as someone who is good for the 90%.
If Kirk wants curriculum for his schools, could he go to Hillsdale where conservative Catholics and evangelicals align to promote a world view?
Could he go to Bari Weiss’ new college in Texas, again where conservative Catholics and evangelicals align to mold society to their view?
Jefferson, in every country and in every age, the priest aligns with the despot.
If Weiss believes she can cancel “cancel culture,” she is naive. There is cancel culture on both sides of the aisle. On the left it is mostly about inappropriate choice of language regarding gender and/ or so-called race. The right wants to cancel civil society as we know it along with democracy. The left’s cancel culture is minor in comparison to what the right is trying to impose, a libertarian dystopia.
“Taxes are the price we pay to live in a civilized society.”
The Koch network plots to eliminate taxes. The GOP playbook is the one the free market predators used in Ireland during the great hunger when 1,000,000 starved to death. The GOP wants to prevent opposition to wealth accumulation by the richest 0.1% through use of the church’s religious control.
Anyone and anything linked to traitor Trump and MAGA is not patriotic.
The twisted, zombies behind these MAGA charters are the traitor’s loyalists. They are not patriots, not in the traditional sense.
Here is an explanation of a loyalist that fits:
Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolutionary War, often referred to as Tories, Royalists or King’s Men at the time. They were opposed by the Patriots, who supported the revolution, and called them “persons inimical to the liberties of America.”
Anthem: “God Save the King”
I wonder if the traitor’s MAGA zombies have an Anthem. If they do, it would be: “Trump Forever”
MAGA morons are loyal to the traitor, not the United States Constitution.
[Cue “I’m Proud to be a ‘Merkin”; Y’all can start chanting USA, USA, USA anytime now.]
HIStory
Part 1: Bringing Jesus to the Savages
Part 2: Old Black Joe Loved It! Quaint, Curious, and Colorful Vignettes from the Old South
Part 3: Manifest Destiny (Lebensraum)
Part 4: The War of Northern Aggression and How the Lost Cause Lived On
Part 5: Offenses to Southern Womanhood: Northern Liberal Carpetbaggers Ravage Daughters and Wives
Part 6: What Happens to Racial Purity When Immigrant Rapists and Murderers Flood In
Part 6: World War 1: How War Stimulates the Economy (Case Study)
Part 8: World War 2: Misled by a Socialist Antifa Enemy within, the US Takes the Wrong Side
Part 9: Ronnie Whips the Commies
Part 10: The Rise of Dimocrat Babylon
Part 11: MAGA! The Coming of Glorious Leader Who Shone More Orange Than Does the Sun
Part 12: The Way to Deal with Snowflakes Is Scorched Earth: The American Revolution of 2022-24 and the Second Civil War
Bob, you’re making a lot of people “uncomfortable.” Soon you may have DeSantis’ goons dragging you out of your house where you’ll be sent to a reeducation camp in the Everglades.
This wouldn’t surprise me.
Sounds like the GOP is aiming for its own version of Hitler’s Youth. That is frightening.
Nailed it.
Charlie Kirk is this far far right wing propagandist of the worst sort, it’s fair to compare him to Goebbels. This maniac should be kept as far away from education and schools as possible. Talk about indoctrination and poisoning the minds of the children, he fits the bill.
I suspect that Kirk Academy will have all the success of other online schools or of Bannon’s “We Build the Wall.”
And, note to Kirk: Don’t expect Glorious Leader to chip in any of his own $$$$. LOL.
Charlie Kirk and his organization should not be brushed aside by anyone as insignificant or a passing fad. He is a piece of the well-organized effort to destroy the publicly-run public education system and turn it into a private enterprise goggling up private funds.
They have been playing the long-game (using our laws and established institutions) and it’s time we do the same.
Correction “gobbling”
First they google.
Then they goggle.
Then they gobble
And the Commons hobble.
Exactly right, Ms. Young. I meant only that his schools would probably fail. But yes, this is part of a plan, and it has to do with more than just eliminating/plundering the Common Good:
It’s almost taboo to praise America and Western civilization in much of the academy. Harping on the sin of slavery and ignoring the accomplishments of dead white men is de rigeur. The Left has lost all sense of proportion. Ergo Kirk’s reaction. Progressives have laid the groundwork for this secession.
Here’s the bill of fare at next month’s conference of CA social studies teachers: all progressive orthodoxy; not a single unorthodox perspective. 45% of Americans are simply shut out. And you wonder why the GOP wants to dismantle public schools?
https://s1.goeshow.com/ccss/annual/2022/conference_program_sessions.cfm
OMG! There’s a session on the history of resistance to slavery! What a bunch of leftist propaganda! Everyone knows that Black Folk just loved their kind, generous owners!
Bob-
Your third sentence that conveys the GOP’s lie about slavery shows us how sociopathic they are and why they can never be allowed to govern.
IKR? World food sustainability, civic engagement, the Cali4fornia water crisis–what horrors!
ROFLMAO!
Charlie Kirk is a rightwing extremist. He never went to college. He is devoted to Trump and he is funded by Koch. Kirk’s views are Neanderthal. Progressives did not create him. https://www.desmog.com/charlie-kirk/
Both Gates and Koch knew where school privatization would lead.
“Harping on the sin of slavery and ignoring the accomplishments of dead white men is de rigeur.”
Johnny, what prize do we have for such a false, disingenuous (I’m being nice here), either/or framing of complex history? Too bad it barely hides your racist intent. Well, not really.
I see: it’s racist to want to find a proper balance between teaching national sins and national virtues.
Is America one of the most racist and evil nations to exist? Or is it one of the least racist and least evil nations to exist? Looking at history and the rest of the world today, I’d incline to say the latter. But talking to many of my liberal friends, I get the impression they think America is one of the most evil nations to ever exist. That we invented racism. That we have few true virtues. One of them seems to think that being taken over by China would be far preferable to GOP rule, and that any suffering we’d endure at China’s hands would be well earned. I don’t think these people have a sane sense of proportion. Abu Ghraib equals the Uighur concentration camps. George Floyd equals a billion people under arbitrary justice. I don’t think they know enough about history, what humans are, and what the world is. Native Americans gleefully tortured and enslaved each others, but white people are uniquely evil. I teach world history and thus see the slow evolution from feudalism to democracy and see America as the precious result of that. Few others seem to see this. That narrative is very out of favor these days.
China, it seems to me, could be Nazi Germany times ten. It is autocratic, extremely nationalistic, extremely organized and ambitious, very racist (against anyone non-Han, including white people), very rich, and four times bigger than the US. While this giant emerges, we lacerate ourselves and wish for national death. We call our democracy a fraud. We make equity, not excellence, our educational priority at the precise moment we need legions of whip smart scientists and computer geeks to protect our precious republic. We’ve lost our minds.
Teach the evils of slavery, for God’s sake! Teach the Trail of Tears and other oppressions! But there’s so much more to teach! You wouldn’t know that looking at the social studies conference workshops.
Ponderosa-
If U.S. virtues were currently on the rise, the case you make would come closer to warranting a minimal amount of interest. You evidently
don’t understand the threat to your rights, I presume because you think your demographic profile protects you.
How should a reversal of Roe v Wade, setting the U.S. apart from all other developed nations, be taught? (Check out Okla. Sen. Bill 1167 introduced by Sen. George Burns.)
How should the downgrading of the U.S.’ qualifications/specifications as a democracy be taught?
How should attacks on separation of church and state be taught and the bogus use of “religious liberty” in order to establish theocracy?
How should info. about Charles Koch’s strangulation of the government of the U.S. republic be taught?
What lessons should be used to teach condemnation of a politically partisan SCOTUS?
What lessons should be used to condemn those in the GOP at the highest levels who condone the overturn of a legitimate election?
The preceding is a partial listing.
It’s unfortunate that Tucker Carlson chooses to see China as the only enemy and not Putin?
OK Ponderosa I read through about 30 of those conference topics and found maybe 3 that pushed my buttons? That’s probably meaningless as you don’t know me well. Suffice it to say I’m finding very very few topics that illustrate your characterization of the “academy,” either here or in your 2nd post.
Years ago, I used to get upset by the agendas of conferences that included topics that offended me. Now, I understand that it’s okay that people don’t agree. If someone wants to do a panel comparing Shakespeare to Mickey Mouse, I shrug. Shrugging is sometimes necessary.
Bethree5:
None of the offerings offend me. What offends me is the omissions. There is so much more to talk about that is excluded from these conferences. Competing ideas are not allowed. It’s an intellectual dead zone.
Bull sh*t bias, godless, anti American article!!!! Wake up people!!! I’m sick of the Geo political ignorance!!! When did common sense, reality and basic science become hate speech and not the norm…