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Judge rules in favor of Iowa teacher fired for Charlie Kirk comments

on Tue, 03/03/2026 - 23:36   by Clark Kauffman

Iowa Capital Dispatch
March 2, 2026

A western Iowa teacher who was fired after publicly commenting that she wouldn’t miss activist Charlie Kirk after his death last year has been awarded jobless benefits.

Jana Aldrich of Council Bluffs was a special education teacher who last year worked for the Omaha-based Child Saving Institute, a nonprofit with a mission of helping children with behavioral, mental and social needs.

According to state records, on Sept. 10, 2025, shortly after conservative activist Kirk was shot and killed in Utah, Aldrich posted a comment to Facebook. The post included a widely circulating meme that included Kirk’s April 3, 2023, statement in response to a question about gun deaths: “I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.”

Iowa Board of Educational Examiners sued for soliciting complaints about teachers’ anti-Kirk posts

on Wed, 01/14/2026 - 03:41   by Clark Kauffman

Iowa Capital Dispatch
January 13, 2026

The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners is now being sued for soliciting complaints about teachers who made negative public comments about Charlie Kirk in the wake of the conservative activist’s death last fall.

Teachers Katherine Mejia of Manchester and Jennifer Smith of Johnston are suing the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners and its executive director, Michael Cavin, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.

The lawsuit challenges Cavin’s written solicitation of professional licensing complaints related to the shooting death of Kirk in September 2025. That solicitation, the teachers argue, resulted in complaints of unethical conduct filed against them by their employers. The lawsuit alleges the actions of Cavin and the board have violated the teachers’ First Amendment right to comment on matters of public concern.

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