Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen on Tuesday announced a statewide partnership with Turning Point USA intended to expand the group’s presence in high schools across the state.
Details of the initiative were not outlined during the news conference, and the governor did not take questions afterward. A preview announcement from Turning Point USA said the effort seeks to establish TPUSA Club America chapters in every Nebraska high school, describing them as student-led organizations focused on civic engagement and free speech.
Turning Point USA is a political nonprofit organization which advocates for conservative politics on high school, college, and university campuses. The organization was founded in 2012 by conservative activist Bill Montgomery, a Lincoln native, and the late Charlie Kirk.
“Charlie’s vision has inspired countless Americans to simply just stand up and talk about faith, talk about our family, talk about our love of country, talk about our values,” Pillen said during the conference hosted in the Governor’s Mansion. “I don’t see anything political about that, I see it as right and wrong, God and Satan, and it’s really, really important.”
TPUSA oversees 1,200 high school chapters nationwide. Joining Pillen for the announcement, TPUSA Enterprise Director Nick Cocca said there are currently about 40 chapters across Nebraska high schools and colleges. Cocca said the goal of the partnership is to double that number.
The state’s teachers union, the Nebraska State Education Association (NSEA), issued the following statement from President Tim Royers in response to today’s announcement:
“The Nebraska State Education Association supports students’ constitutional rights to form non-curriculum-related clubs that foster civic engagement and personal growth. These rights are well established under federal law, including the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that involved a case right here in Nebraska, Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens (1990).
At the same time, there is a clear and important distinction between clubs that are initiated by students based on genuine interest and a statewide initiative directed by the governor’s office. Decisions about student activities are best made locally by school boards, administrators, educators, parents and students – not through a statewide mandate.
Public schools must remain politically neutral environments. Educators and school leaders have a responsibility to ensure that no political organization is perceived as endorsed by the state or embedded within public school systems in a way that compromises that neutrality.”