Indiana is setting up a partnership with faith-based Turning Point USA. It joins six other Republican-led states that are helping the conservative group expand its national network.
Similar plans have already been established in Oklahoma, Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Montana and Nebraska. What differentiates Indiana's partnership from others is that Secretary of State Diego Morales will collaborate with Turning Point's Club America high school chapters to help students register to vote.
There is nothing untoward about Gov. Mike Braun personally endorsing Turning Point, or northeast Indiana's Adams Central High School approving a Club America chapter, as it did in December. But public schools don't exist to serve as recruiting grounds for any political movement.
"Students in Indiana already have the freedom to form clubs, speak their minds, register to vote and participate in civic life," Indiana Senate Democratic Leader Shelli Yoder said in a statement. "The question is not whether students can participate. The question is whether the state of Indiana should be putting its thumb on the scale for one outside ideological agenda."
Public officials should not play favorites when they are acting in their official capacity, but that's what the secretary of state is doing by bestowing Club America a special status.
Furthermore, Turning Point has both 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) sides to its operation, said Julia Vaughn of Common Cause Indiana. The 501(c)(3) is prohibited by federal law from supporting or opposing candidates for elected public office and must only engage in nonpartisan advocacy. But the 501(c)4 may engage in some partisan activity.
"The (c)(3) will sign people up to vote and then forward their contact information to the (c)(4), which will send (the newly registered voters') campaign information from endorsed candidates, like Morales," Vaughn told The Journal Gazette. "Seems like a classic you-scratch-my-back, I'll-scratch-yours setup."
The League of Women Voters of Fort Wayne is a 501(c)(3) and does not have a political arm. It is education-oriented only. When it is invited to high schools to register students, it doesn't share the information with others, particularly politicians.
"We do not ever collect that information and use it for any other purpose," Betsy Kachmar, president of the Fort Wayne League, told The Journal Gazette. "It goes straight to the voter registration office within 24 hours, and we never see it again."
The Indiana-Turning Point partnership comes amid contentious debate over Republicans' efforts to inject conservative values in public school curriculums, and to essentially give Turning Point the government seal of approval. Yet Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith said last week the push for Club America is not a "super Republican initiative."
"We as a state want to see pro-American clubs like Club America just in every school possible in our entire state," he said. "It's not partisan. This is not a Republican-Democrat thing."
Whom does he think he's kidding? Turning Point was founded by conservative Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated during an event at Utah Valley University in September. He is considered a martyr by many on the political right for challenging liberal orthodoxy, promoting Christianity and building a conservative college movement. And he repeated President Donald Trump's unfounded belief that the 2020 election had been stolen by Democrats.
Certainly, Hoosier high school students should have the freedom to form clubs - conservative, progressive, independent - and engage in civic discussions. But public schools should create a respectful environment where students can explore ideas and perspectives. And they should be able to do so without the state appearing to favor or promote any particular political organization - in this case, conservative Turning Point USA.
Decisions about student activities are best handled at the local level, with the goal of supporting all students, not facilitating specific political beliefs.