The proposal (SB 1264) was approved in a 25-7 vote, and would need approval from the House before it could go to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Under the bill, the state Department of Education would be directed to “prepare and offer” educational standards related to communism history instruction, and would require certain concepts to be included.
For example, the curriculum would have to include lessons on the “increasing threat of communism in the United States and to our allies through the 20th century” and the “economic, industrial, and political events that have preceded and anticipated communist revolutions.”
The educational standards would have to launch in the 2026-27 school year and would have to be “age appropriate and developmentally appropriate” for students.
Senate bill sponsor Jay Collins, R-Tampa, and other supporters of the bill have warned that young people are increasingly viewing communism in a positive light.
“Here’s what I know about communism: It doesn’t care what race, creed, color, gender, sexual identification, ideology you come from — it will destroy your life and your family’s life completely the same,” Collins said.
Florida students currently can get lessons on communism in high-school social studies courses or in a seventh-grade civics and government course.
A high-school U.S. government class required for graduation also includes 45 minutes of instruction on “Victims of Communism Day” that covers various communist regimes throughout history.
Sen. Geraldine Thompson, a Windermere Democrat who is a former educator, said the measure is “duplicative” because instruction about communism already exists in public schools.
“If we want to have a greater emphasis on communism, let’s just infuse it into the curriculum that we have now. And because it’s duplicative and puts an additional responsibility or burden on already overworked individuals, I cannot support the bill,” Thompson said.
This article appears in Feb 29 – Mar 6, 2024.