TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Legislature passed a bill on Wednesday that would introduce a “history of communism” class in state schools.
That bill — SB 1264 — would require public schools to teach about the history of communist groups in the U.S. and abroad, as well as the problems with communist principles.
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Amendments aimed at adding more criteria to the coursework — such as education on McCarthyism or the idea that the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot could lead to communism — failed to pass, though the bill still received strong support in both the state House and Senate.
According to the text, the State Board of Education would be responsible for developing the course standards, which could be taught as part of a school’s social studies or language arts curriculum.
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An earlier draft of the bill sought to teach the class in grades as young as kindergarten, but the final version simply states that instruction must be “age appropriate.”
The legislation also seeks to create an “Institute for Freedom in the Americas” at Miami-Dade College, which would host conferences and workshops promoting “intellectual, political and economic freedoms.”
In addition, the bill would require state agencies to provide a recommendation to the Legislature by Dec. 1 regarding the creation of a museum about the history of communism.
If signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the bill will take effect on July 1. However, the new coursework wouldn’t be implemented until the 2026-2027 school year.
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