House bill co-sponsor denies kindergartners will learn about communism history

A bill that would require public schoolchildren to learn about the history of communism has cleared its final House committee, sending it next to the House floor.

The House Education and Employment Committee voted 19-1 in favor of the bill (HB 1349), while the Senate version (SB 1264) is also advancing.

But at least one lawmaker during that hearing wondered just how young students will be when they first begin hearing about the ideology. In response, the bill’s co-sponsor denied kindergartners will learn lessons about China and world atrocities.

“What would you think would be appropriate to teach a kindergartener about communism?” Democrat Rep. Susan Valdés asked the bill’s co-sponsor, Rep. Chuck Brannan, during Wednesday’s committee meeting.

“There’s nowhere in the bill that says this is going to be taught to kindergartners,” said Brannan, a Republican from Macclenny.

“It will be age and developmentally appropriate. I’m going to defer to the experts. I’m not a teacher. I’m not a professor. I’m not an educator. So I’ll defer to those folks to decide what is developmentally appropriate. Personally, I would envision around sixth grade, something like that, but you can’t find anywhere in this bill that says we’re going to teach this to kindergartners.”

The bill doesn’t say what grades communism history should be taught, although the staff analysis of the bill says: “The bill requires, beginning in the 2026-2027 school year, that the History of Communism be included in required instruction to public school students in grades K-12.”

The House bill had been amended to eliminate the requirement that children learn about “cultural Marxism” — a favorite term in the Republicans’ culture wars.

“That gave people some heartburn,” Brannan said at Wednesday’s committee meeting. “There were arguments on both sides of that, Right or Left, but it was removed as we listened to what was said last week.”

What would be taught in schools is the history of communism, lessons on the mass killings by communist regimes, communist revolution history and its philosophy, topics combining U.S. and world history. If the bill passes, the lessons would start in the 2026-27 school year.

The Florida Department of Education (FDOE) would determine the age-appropriate curriculum and academic standards.

In addition, the bill would create the Institute for Freedom in the Americas at Miami Dade College to hold events for the public. The Departments of Education and State would report back to the Legislature about whether a communism history museum should be built.

Lawmakers held a lengthy debate Wednesday that was emotional at times as they spoke about the horrors of communism and why they want children to understand. Several voiced concerns that young people today don’t fully understand the dangers of communism.

One lawmaker asked if students would learn about Vladimir Putin and current events.

“I could go through them all. Communist China. The former Soviet Union. Vietnam. Cambodia, the Americas — Nicaragua, Venezuela,” Brannan said, adding the bill is intended to make people understand that “communism is bad and killed millions of people.”

GOP Rep. Randy Fine argued he doesn’t understand why the bill is “controversial.”

“I don’t think it should be,” Fine said. “It’s an ideology, frankly, that’s just rooted in evil. … It is important that we teach our kids this history.”

Several Democrats supported the bill despite having reservations.

“I’m still concerned about, you know, teaching a specific political and economic system to people at a young age,” said Rep. Katherine Waldron, adding that she was voting in support of the bill because she was “cautiously optimistic” and felt more comfortable that the FDOE would create age-appropriate material to be taught in public schools.