HIALEAH GARDENS, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill requiring the history of communism to be taught in grades as low as kindergarten, starting in the 2026-2027 school year.
Senate Bill 1264 states lessons will have to include the increasing threat of communism in the country and to its allies “including the events of the Cultural Revolution in the People’s Republic of China and other mass killings from communist regimes."
DeSantis said students in public schools have to be taught that communism is harmful because in many universities they are taught the benefits.
“What foundation are we giving young people?” DeSantis said. “Are we giving them a foundation of truth or are we trying to do something all too present in these universities?”
It will also teach the history of communism in the United States and the tactics used in domestic communist movements.
Sen. Jay Collins, R-Tampa, sponsored the bill that passed 25-7 in the Senate and 106-7 in the House.
Some critics questioned what the curriculum would look like for kindergarteners.
“We’re leaving it broad for the task force to make recommendations on what is age-appropriate to utilize the space,” Collins said in a committee meeting.
Rep. Ashley Gantt, D-Miami, who voted against the bill, raised questions about what the curriculum would include.
“We hear indoctrination, indoctrination, indoctrination, that word thrown around. We need to make sure that our curriculum is robust, and it equips our students with the ability to be able to synthesize and understand governments from around the world," she said in a House meeting, according to the News Service of Florida.
Under current law, public school students don’t encounter lessons about communism until seventh grade.
The state also requires a high-school government class that includes 45 minutes of instruction on “Victims of Communism Day.” DeSantis said the class covers people such as Fidel Castro, Pol Pot and Vladimir Lenin. That requirement started this school year.
This new law expands that with the Florida Department of Education required to create standards with a heavy emphasis on the personal freedom restrictions in communist countries.
The bill also will create a museum of the history of communism at the Institute for Freedom in America at Miami Dade College.
DeSantis also signed another education bill Tuesday limiting library book challenges. It also makes changes to ease the process of charter schools taking over operations at traditional public schools lagging in performance.
It requires any resident of the county who isn’t a parent or guardian of a student with access to school district materials can’t object to more than one material each month.
