New Florida Law Fights The Evils of Communism

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) this Tuesday signed a series of proposals designed to support “intellectual diversity” at public schools, including a renewed focus on Communism and totalitarian governments. If signed into law, they would fight Communism in our public schools and universities.

“Why would somebody flee across shark-infested waters, say leaving from Cuba, to come to Florida?” asked DeSantis during a speech to students at a middle school in Fort Myers. “Why would somebody leave a place like Vietnam? Why would people leave these countries and risk their life to be able to come here?”

The legislation includes a new civics curriculum for K-12 students that features stories of ‘civic-minded Americans.’ It will also feature first-person accounts from individuals who suffered at the hands of totalitarian regimes and establishes a civics literacy exam all students of public university must pass to graduate.

Lastly, the proposal directs public universities to conduct annual surveys to determine if students and faculty “feel free to express [their] beliefs and viewpoints on campus and in the classroom.” The survey also aims to assess to what degree “competing ideas and perspectives are presented,” as well as prohibit schools from banning access to materials students “may find uncomfortable, unwelcome, disagreeable, or offensive.”

It is unclear how DeSantis will enforce these laws to fight communism. But he has suggested budget cuts for schools that refuse to comply.

“It used to be thought that a university campus was a place where you’d be exposed to a lot of different ideas,” said DeSantis. “Unfortunately, the norm is, these are more intellectually repressive environments. You have orthodoxies that are promoted, and other viewpoints are shunned or even suppressed.”

Author’s Note: As the Democratic Party’s trend towards Socialism continues, it is more important than ever to ensure that our children understand the evils of Communism and totalitarian governments.

On the other hand, this proposal does infringe on local control of education. But we do not want the government to have control over education. It is too easy to insert propaganda (which, ironically, critics will claim this move does).

Sources:

Colleges Require Teaching Evils of Communism

Governor DeSantis: Florida students will learn communism is evil