In 2024, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1264, “requiring instruction in public schools on the history of communism.”
“We will not allow our students to live in ignorance, nor be indoctrinated by Communist apologists in schools. To the contrary, we will ensure students in Florida are taught the truth about the evils and dangers of Communism,” DeSantis said after signing the bill into law.
The law has been derided by local media as “skewed,” “highly biased,” and a “revival of McCarthyism.”
It has also been ridiculed by progressive organizations like PEN America, which claims that “Florida’s new standards impose a single, rigid set of beliefs such as criticizing communism.”
In fact, Florida’s “act relating to the history of communism” does not prescribe ideological viewpoints. Rather, it requires instruction that meets standards of professionalism and historical accuracy. It specifically notes, “Members of the instructional staff of the public schools, subject to the rules of the State Board of Education and the district school board, shall teach efficiently and faithfully, using the books and materials required that meet the highest standards for professionalism and historical accuracy.”
In other words, the law is strictly designed to ensure that public schools fully and accurately teach the history of communism.
Chris Talgo is the Editorial Director for The Heartland Institute and a fellow for Heartland’s Glenn C. Haskins Emerging Issues Center.
