Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
Seven years into his teaching career, Ian Gamroth said he had never received an evaluation below “top” marks.
The retired combat veteran left the military, earned a degree from Indiana University and settled into a classroom at Gibson Southern High School in southwest Indiana. Teaching, he said, quickly became a second “calling.”
Then, just days after the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last September, a meme the English teacher posted on social media cost him his job.
A quote by Mark Twain, which Gamroth reposted on his Instagram story, read, “I’ve never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure,” along with other posts criticizing Kirk.
One post showed a photograph of Kirk and the phrase “HUMANITY IS NOW A BETTER PLACE.” Another included a quote often attributed to poet and playwright Oscar Wilde: “Some men improve the world only by leaving it.” Gamroth’s story also described Kirk as “a fascist carnival barker who built a career turning college campuses into right-wing indoctrination fairs, demonizing queer kids, immigrants and anyone who doesn’t fit his cookie-cutter idea of America.”
Screenshots of the posts quickly circulated online and eventually landed on Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s “Eyes on Education” portal — a state-run website where members of the public can submit complaints or screenshots alleging political bias, inappropriate classroom conduct or other concerns involving teachers and schools.
Within days, Gamroth said, political pressure from local officials and online activists mounted and his school corporation pushed him to leave his job.
Gamroth, who unsuccessfully ran as a Democrat for state representative in 2020 against Republican Rep. Matt Hostettler, said he’s not sure who took the screenshots of the posts on his personal account.
“They said either resign or they were gonna fire me,” he told the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
Now, months later, Gamroth is no longer teaching. He said he has been unable to find another classroom job and works full time with his wife in their photography business. Online search results tied to the social media posts have made it harder to move forward professionally, he said.
“I love teaching. I still love it — it is exactly what I was put on this earth to do,” Gamroth said. “But there’s no way I’m going to teach again in this state.”
Gamroth is one of roughly three dozen educators and school employees listed on the attorney general’s portal following Kirk’s killing — and one of at least several whose careers were disrupted after their posts circulated online.
But despite public calls from top Indiana officials to discipline educators accused of “celebrating” or “rationalizing” Kirk’s death — including warnings from the governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general that teachers could face consequences for such speech — state records show no K-12 teachers have lost their licenses over the controversy.
Even so, Gamroth said the portal itself has caused lasting damage.
“That portal thing is evil. There is no fact checking … it is a gossip page,” he said. “People need to know how this stuff’s all actually going down, in schools and for teachers, and this is why it’s going down. It’s messed up.”
6 months later, no licenses revoked
The Indiana Office of Administrative Law Proceedings confirmed to the Capital Chronicle that no cases involving teacher licenses have been filed with the office since Kirk’s death on Sept. 10.
The office is the state authority responsible for ultimately suspending or revoking educator licenses after the Indiana Department of Education conducts an investigation.
The education department did not respond to questions from the Capital Chronicle about whether it has opened any investigations tied to teachers’ social media posts.
Indiana law allows state education officials to suspend or revoke a teaching license under limited circumstances. Statute permits such action “upon the written recommendation of the state superintendent of public instruction” if an educator is found guilty of immorality, misconduct in office, incompetency, or willful neglect of duty.
The state maintains a public database of educator discipline — most often involving criminal convictions.
As of Monday, no license suspensions or revocations had been recorded in the database for misconduct, incompetence or willful neglect since Kirk’s death. One license revocation for “immorality” occurred in February but stemmed from a criminal conviction involving inappropriate communication with a child, unrelated to the controversy over social media posts.
Local-level job consequences
State data shows all 22 of the K-12 educators named in the Eyes on Education portal still retain active teaching licenses, but the Capital Chronicle confirmed at least six faced separate consequences at the local level.
At least four K-12 educators around Indiana resigned after their social media posts about Kirk’s death sparked backlash in their communities. In several instances, teachers stepped down within days of the posts becoming public — and after school administrators were inundated with complaints.
In some cases, districts cited concerns about “disruptions” in the learning environment or within the community when discussing personnel changes.
At Triton Central High School, a longtime Spanish teacher was placed on administrative leave and agreed to retire at the end of the school year after sharing a Facebook post criticizing Kirk. The post described him as an “anti-immigrant, anti-abortion, anti-women’s rights” conservative activist and argued he was “neither a martyr nor a hero.”
In another case, a teacher at Danville South Elementary resigned after screenshots of her comment made about Kirk’s killing circulated online and prompted complaints from community members. The teacher commented on a “pray for Charlie Kirk” post on Facebook saying, “I will never wish for someone to die a violent death or experience extreme violence. However, the universe has a way of making sure you reap what you sow and people like Charlie Kirk should probably be less reckless with what they put out into it.”
The Eyes on Education portal extends to colleges, too.
At least one university employee in Indiana — Suzanne Swierc, then-director of health promotion and advocacy at Ball State University — lost her job after posting comments about Kirk’s on her private Facebook account. The firing has since prompted an ongoing federal lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana.
Other schools listed on the portal — including Indiana University and the University of Notre Dame — either declined to comment or did not respond to questions from the Capital Chronicle about whether disciplinary action was taken against employees for social media posts.
At the University of Evansville, however, administrators publicly defended a professor whose social media comments about Kirk drew criticism. School officials maintained that the faculty member’s posts were protected by the First Amendment and academic freedom.
“We recognize that people disagree with these views,” a university spokesperson said in a September statement. “We also recognize that Charlie Kirk valued debate and the exchange of ideas, even with those who disagreed with him. In that spirit, it would run counter to his legacy to ask that differing opinions be silenced.”
Political pressure after Kirk’s killing
In the days after Kirk’s death, Indiana’s Republican leadership criticized social media posts from educators that appeared to glorify or mock the killing.
Gov. Mike Braun, Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith and Rokita publicly condemned such posts and urged scrutiny of educators — including those who made such comments on their personal, private accounts.
Rokita’s office specifically encouraged the public to submit screenshots of teachers’ comments to the state’s Eyes on Education portal.
The attorney general later sent letters to school superintendents and university administrators outlining how schools, as government employers, could discipline educators for controversial speech.
“As a legal matter, schools have substantial authority consistent with the First Amendment to terminate or discipline teachers or other educators for divisive or controversial speech,” he wrote.
“As a matter of good government and sound public policy, schools would be wise to remove from the classroom teachers who express support for or attempt to excuse political violence,” he continued. “And as a matter of morality, this moment demands decisive action from public officials to address noxious speech from government employees that undermines public confidence in our schools and corrodes public discourse.”
His office has said the portal is “not intended to provide a basis for legal action against schools or teachers,” although the information could potentially be used by parents and local administrators.
A spokesperson said last fall that the office does not investigate submissions beyond verifying their authenticity.
Still, Rokita and others publicly suggested that educators who celebrated the killing could face professional consequences — including potential threats to their teaching licenses.
Gamroth said he took those warnings seriously and, fearing state action, transferred his license to Illinois. Even so, his Indiana license remains active.
“I wasn’t going to mess around with that,” Gamroth said. “It’s part of this feeling that I’m just paddling against the stream in red state Indiana.”
The portal’s ongoing impact
The Eyes on Education portal — launched by Rokita in 2024 — was originally pitched as a way for parents to report concerns about schools, including allegations of political bias, inappropriate classroom instruction or violations of state education policies.
The website lists schools and educators referenced in submissions, and links to the social media posts or other content in question, but does not provide updates about whether investigations occurred or what disciplinary outcomes, if any, followed. The portal also does not make public who submitted complaints.
Educators and school officials have criticized the website, arguing it can amplify harassment or misinformation about teachers. Occasionally, Rokita’s office will post an update or clarification.
Gamroth said online rumors about him quickly spiraled beyond his original posts.
“There were comments on there that were like, ‘Oh yeah, he was confiscating Bibles from students,’” he said. “There was all of this rumor and conjecture that was getting spread out there.”
He said the fallout has continued months later.
“If you Google me, the first things that come up are like I’m a piece of f****** by the attorney general,” he said.
Gamroth said his experience “puts on display” how politically “charged” education debates have become — and how political fights can spill into teachers’ personal lives.
“Teachers are an easy target. And nobody tried to protect me,” he said. “I’m not the first, and I’m definitely not going to be the last.”
“Teachers are terrified. They’re worried that if we say anything about anything, they’re terrified that they’re going to get fired next,” he continued. “Until this country changes … until I can go and teach and do my job without the other bulls***, I’m not going to teach again.”
Indiana Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: [email protected].
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.