Florida’s New Communism Education Mandate Reaches Classrooms This Year

Florida public schools are beginning the first year of a state law that substantially expands required instruction on the history and consequences of communism.

The law requires age-appropriate instruction on communist movements in the United States, atrocities under communist regimes, Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution and other mass killings, conditions that preceded communist revolutions, and communism in Cuba and Latin America. 

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1264 in April 2024 and the State Board of Education approved the specific standards in November 2025, with instruction beginning this school year.

Six districts—Orange, Osceola, Broward, Hillsborough, Escambia, and Duval—told The Epoch Times that instead of offering either of Florida’s two dedicated History of Communism electives this school year, the required material is being taught through courses students already take, including history, civics, government, economics, and personal finance.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools said it was working on a response to The Epoch Times’ inquiry, but didn’t provide before publication time.

Hillsborough said it has already worked the material into middle school course plans and provides monthly teacher training tied to upcoming lessons. Duval said its History of Communism specific training has not yet occurred.

The Florida Department of Education told The Epoch Times it is still developing an instructional guide to support educators in implementing the standards for grades six through 12.

What Florida Changed

Florida already required some instruction about communist regimes before the new law.

A 2022 law established Victims of Communism Day on Nov. 7. Beginning with the 2023–24 school year, students enrolled in the required high school U.S. Government course must receive at least 45 minutes of related instruction on communist regimes and their victims on that day. The Florida Department of Education lists figures including Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, Pol Pot, and Nicolás Maduro among the subjects covered.

The Legislature went considerably further in 2024.

Florida Department of Education press secretary Olivia Wester told The Epoch Times that the new History of Communism standards begin in sixth grade.

“There are no History of Communism standards or benchmarks for Grades K–5 and no expectation of instruction specific to this requirement in those grades,” she said.

Florida also created two high-school electives devoted to the subject—History of Communism 1 and History of Communism 2. The courses were added to the state’s course requirements when the new standards were adopted.

Students do not have to take either elective. The required material can instead be taught across existing courses from middle through high school.

That is the approach taken by all six districts that provided substantive answers.

What Students Will Learn

Orange County Public Schools provided a course plan showing how the new requirement can be divided among classes.

In world history, students may study Marx and Engels, the Russian Revolution, state control of information under communist regimes, and restrictions on religious expression.

Government classes include the formation and tactics of the Communist Party USA, while economics and personal finance courses cover subjects including Marxist economic theories and private property.

The statewide standards for social studies give a detailed breakdown of expectations, with high school topics ranging from communist movements in the United States to resistance to communist governments overseas.

Hillsborough County provided another example of how those requirements are being translated into lessons.

For one middle school standard on early communal systems, state guidance directs teachers to discuss communal arrangements in Jamestown and Plymouth, why those settlements shifted toward private ownership, and the later Brook Farm experiment.

Hillsborough revised its middle school course plans over the summer to place the new material into specific units.

Teachers receive monthly “just-in-time” training shortly before those units are taught, the district told The Epoch Times. Each unit also ends with a district assessment and an assignment tied to the material.

At the high school level, however, Hillsborough said it has not conducted separate training specifically on the new History of Communism standards.

Duval County has placed the required topics into its existing social studies courses but said teachers have not yet received specific History of Communism training.

“Training will take place later this semester to prepare for instruction in the spring,” Laureen Ricks, Duval’s director of strategic communications, told The Epoch Times.

For the current school year, Duval said teachers will use existing approved materials and district guidance, along with the planned training. The district’s next selection of social studies textbooks and curriculum materials is scheduled to begin in 2027.

Escambia County is likewise using existing textbooks while reviewing additional material.

Cherie Arnette, the district’s K–12 social studies specialist, said approved resources will be provided to teachers rather than leaving them to find or develop the material themselves.

“Teachers will not be expected to develop or select materials for themselves,” she said.

Escambia already uses material from the Florida Department of Education, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, and the Lou Frey Institute at the University of Central Florida for Victims of Communism Day.

Arnette said the Florida Department of Education’s forthcoming History of Communism guide “will help inform the curriculum decisions” in Escambia.

Osceola County has mapped the required topics into existing courses and uses social studies materials from Teachers’ Curriculum Institute, a textbook and curriculum publisher. Supplemental material may also include resources from the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.

Individual teachers, however, write their own lesson plans “and are not created, prescribed, or distributed by the district office,” Osceola Chief Communications Officer Dana Schafer said.

Broward County said it has prepared instructional resources and provided teacher training, with additional training expected “as state resources become available.”

Teaching Resources

Districts are beginning the new requirement while the Florida Department of Education continues to prepare additional support.

“The Department is currently developing a History of Communism instructional guide to support educators in implementing the standards,” Wester said. Meanwhile, “districts and schools may use a variety of instructional resources consistent with state law and local policy.”

Hillsborough said it will review the guide once available, while Escambia said it expects the document to help inform future curriculum decisions.

Outside organizations have also been involved in preparing teachers and materials.

The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation said in its latest annual report that, at Florida’s request, it held plenary sessions at five teacher seminars around the state in summer 2023, training thousands of educators on teaching about communist regimes.

The foundation said Ken Pope, its vice president for academic operations and strategic partnerships, worked with the Florida Department of Education on the new History of Communism standards. Florida also asked Pope to develop and deliver three teacher trainings on the standards and the history of communism in summer 2026, according to the report.

Another organization, the California-based Independent Institute, has developed supplemental lessons specifically for Florida’s new requirements.

Its Florida curriculum site says the organization started with a 70-lesson course on comparative economic systems, identified lessons relevant to Florida’s standards, and adapted them for middle and high school courses already offered in the state.

The packages include lesson plans, student workbooks, discussion material, and assessments. The group says districts can approve them locally as supplemental materials without waiting for a statewide textbook adoption.

The site directly invites district social studies officials, principals, and classroom teachers to consider using the material, providing another route for organizations outside state government to participate in how the new standards reach classrooms.

Florida lawmakers have separately approved $725,000 for a project called History of Communism Curriculum.

An earlier funding request sought $1.45 million to create a statewide curriculum aligned with the new standards, including lessons and assessments districts could use. It identified Inspired by Education LLC, doing business as eSpired, as the proposed recipient.

The Legislature ultimately approved half that amount.

eSpired did not respond to questions about whether it received the funding or a state contract, what it is developing, or when materials would become available to teachers.

The Florida Department of Education’s instructional guide, the state-funded curriculum project, and materials developed independently by outside organizations are separate efforts.

Florida Tried a Different Model Before

Florida has previously taken a different approach to teaching communism.

After the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in April 1961—when U.S.-backed Cuban exiles tried to overthrow Fidel Castro’s communist regime—the Florida Legislature required public-high-school juniors and seniors to take a six-week course called Americanism vs. Communism.

Some Florida schools had already taught about communism, but the 1961 law made the six-week course a statewide requirement. The state also developed teaching materials to help schools carry it out.

The requirement remained until the law was repealed in 1983 and replaced with a mandatory economics course, according to the State Archives of Florida.

The current model is different. Instead of requiring students to complete one defined course, Florida has distributed the material among several middle and high school subjects and left districts free to decide whether to offer the two dedicated electives.

Arnette said Escambia’s former Americanism vs. Communism course focused on comparative government, while the newer approach puts communism into historical and economic contexts as well as political ones.

How Florida Will Track the Requirement

The teaching requirement and the state’s reporting system come from different parts of Florida education policy.

SB 1264 established what must be taught and authorized the Florida Department of Education to prepare standards for the instruction. The final 2024 law did not create a separate History of Communism annual reporting system.

Florida already had one for subjects designated as required instruction.

Under Rule 6A-1.094124, districts submit annual plans describing how they will provide subjects required under state law. The rule has been in place since 2019.

The Florida Department of Education’s required instruction page now lists History of Communism among those subjects.

The department began rulemaking in May to formally add History of Communism to the existing planning and reporting rule. The amendment was approved by the State Board of Education on July 22, and is scheduled to take effect for the 2026–2027 school year.

The Legislature established what schools must teach; the State Board and the Florida Department of Education set the academic standards and reporting rules; and local districts decide much of how the material reaches classrooms.

First Year Will Be Watched

State Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez, who co-introduced the Senate bill, said the rollout should receive close attention.

Rodriguez, whose parents fled communist Cuba, said the issue is personal to her.

“This is my family’s story,” Rodriguez told The Epoch Times.

She said the first year deserves close attention and that districts report annually on required instruction, while the Florida Department of Education can make changes through its standards and rulemaking process.

Her office plans to remain in contact with the Florida Department of Education and districts in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties during the rollout, she said.

“If the Legislature ultimately needs to act to strengthen implementation, I am open to that conversation—but I believe the framework we put in place is sound,” Rodriguez said.

State Rep. James Buchanan, who co-sponsored the House version of the legislation, said the school year has only begun and it is not yet possible to fairly judge implementation.

His office will monitor the rollout, Buchanan told The Epoch Times. Smaller problems could be handled through Florida Department of Education rulemaking, he said.

If more serious problems develop, Buchanan said, “I would not rule out legislative action.”