DeSantis signs law targeting teacher-training ‘indoctrination’
Orlando Sentinel | By Ryan Dailey | May 2, 2024
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed into law a bill seeking to prevent what he called “indoctrination” in teacher-training programs.
The measure (HB 1291) prevents teacher-preparation programs from being “based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political, and economic inequities.”
DeSantis said the measure, which will take effect July 1, “prohibits the indoctrination” of prospective teachers.
“The Legislature on this looked at it and said, ‘We don’t want these teacher-preparation programs to become captive to some political agenda,’” DeSantis said during an event at the VyStar Tower in Jacksonville.
Earlier, DeSantis posted on the X social-media platform that the legislation will protect “Floridians from the Agenda of the Global Elites.”
But the Southern Poverty Law Center issued a statement Thursday criticizing the bill, describing it as an “effort to silence educational programs that teach empathy and respect for all.”
“There is no greater threat to our democracy than efforts to scare Floridians out of exercising their right to free speech and to have open and honest discussions about the role racism and oppression played in the history of our country,” Sam Boyd, senior supervising attorney for the Southern Poverty Law Center, said in the statement. “Courts have already ruled that laws like these, which seek to impose censorship on higher education, are unconstitutional. This law is no different.”
Under the bill, teacher-preparation programs cannot “distort significant historical events or include a curriculum or instruction that teaches identity politics.”
The bill includes ties to a 2022 law restricting how various race-related concepts can be taught in schools — a law that DeSantis dubbed the Stop WOKE Act.
During legislative debates, opponents argued the bill was designed to prevent educators from teaching accurate history.
“HB 1291 will infringe upon freedom of speech and continue to keep Floridians uneducated and keep them from having honest discussions about our country’s past,” Kara Gross, legislative director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, said in a statement March 6, the day the bill received final passage. “This is a blatant effort by certain lawmakers to limit discussions and censor viewpoints that they do not agree with.”
