Florida’s War on Teachers Rages On

Names have been redacted for safety reasons.

Florida officials are waging a political witch hunt against teachers whose only “crime” was making comments on their own personal social media about Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Instead of focusing on keeping schools safe or ensuring kids get the resources they need, the state has turned its machinery toward punishing private citizens for speech it doesn’t like. This isn’t about professionalism. It’s about power.

State Power vs. Free Speech

In the days after Kirk’s assassination, the Commissioner of Education blasted out a memo to every superintendent in the state, threatening teachers with investigations and possible loss of their professional certification for social media posts deemed “despicable.” Governor Ron DeSantis piled on, amplifying the directive and turning a handful of private Facebook posts into a statewide political crackdown.

“Let’s be clear: teachers are not property of the state,” said one community advocate assisting those caught in the firestorm. “They are human beings. They have families. They have the same constitutional rights as anyone else. But Florida is treating them like they exist to serve the governor’s political brand.”

Teachers don’t check their First Amendment rights at the classroom door. When the state begins combing through private online speech to decide who deserves to work, it crosses into authoritarian territory.

Mob Justice in Action

The escalation didn’t stop at official memos. Right-wing influencers seized screenshots of deleted posts and blasted them across the internet, urging followers to flood these teachers with harassment. The pile-on was immediate and vicious.

The educators were doxxed. Their personal phone numbers, addresses, and even family details were posted online. Their inboxes filled with threats. Some even received death threats from their own students, emboldened by the circus of outrage.

“All of this was over a couple of Facebook comments made on their own time, outside of work, on their own personal accounts,” said a supporter who has been helping with legal costs. “Meanwhile, Florida leaders are siding with the mob instead of protecting the very people who show up to teach our kids every day. That’s not leadership—it’s complicity.”

A Chilling Message

Each of the teachers has now been placed on leave. None of them are accused of harming students, mishandling their duties, or failing in the classroom. Their lives have been thrown into chaos simply for offending the political sensibilities of Florida’s ruling class.

Some have been forced into hiding. Others are staying with friends or allies who can provide a safe place while the threats continue. Local unions are involved but, under gag orders, have advised the educators not to speak out themselves.

“They’re scared. They’re exhausted. They’ve had to delete their entire online lives, go dark, and pray the threats stop,” said another advocate providing safe housing. “We’re not talking about people who committed crimes. We’re talking about people who dared to post a sentence or two on Facebook. That’s it. And now they’re living like fugitives.”

The chilling message to every other teacher in Florida is unmistakable: stay silent. Don’t dissent. Don’t express your views. Because if you do, the state won’t just try to take your job—it will stand by while you’re terrorized in your own community.

Freedom on the Line

You don’t have to agree with what these teachers said about Charlie Kirk. That’s the point of free speech—it exists to protect expression that is controversial, unpopular, or offensive.

The real danger is when the state decides which opinions are punishable, and uses its power to silence workers for what they say in their personal lives. That’s not professionalism. That’s authoritarianism.

“These women are being made into examples,” said one of their supporters. “It’s about intimidating every other educator into silence. If they can do this to them, they can do it to anyone.”

And here’s the missing piece that mainstream coverage avoids: these teachers didn’t say anything more cruel than the kind of rhetoric Charlie Kirk himself pushed every day. He built his career on “First Amendment freedom” as a weapon—mocking opponents, demeaning vulnerable groups, and even laughing off violence. When Paul Pelosi was brutally attacked, Kirk suggested mocking him was fair game. His speech was a constant stream of hate, not all that different from what people are now under fire for writing in a Facebook comment.

It shouldn’t matter that he wasn’t part of an armed militia. Going around giving speeches that whip people into hatred—that’s what demagogues do.

Teachers are being made into political scapegoats. And if we allow the state to strip them of their careers and safety over private speech, the chilling effect won’t stop with them. It will reach into every workplace, every profession, every citizen who dares to challenge those in power.

Freedom is on the line. And if it can be taken from teachers today, it can be taken from any of us tomorrow.

Editor’s Note: Names and identifying details of the educators targeted in these incidents have been withheld to protect them from further harassment and retaliation.