On April 17th, surrounded by veterans who served in the Bay of Pigs invasion, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed SB 1264, a measure which he states will strengthen Florida’s education standards by requiring the subject of communism to be taught, specifically its dangers and evils. 

“The truth will set us free,” exclaimed DeSantis. “We will not allow our students to live in ignorance, nor be indoctrinated by communist apologists in schools. To the contrary, we will ensure students in Florida are taught the truth about the evils and dangers of communism.”

The bill was signed on the 63rd anniversary of the Bay of Pigs Invasion, a failed CIA supported invasion of Cuba to overthrow Fidel Castro, with many of these veterans by Desantis’s side during the bill-signing event. The majority of state lawmakers approved this measure during the 2024 legislation session. 

SB 1264 is a bill that will add to the existing communist history standards, including instruction of communism in the U.S. and tactics used in communist movements. It further goes on to authorize the Institute for Freedom at Miami Dade College to promote the importance of economic and individual freedoms. Florida’s official website, flgov.com, stated that the main goal of this bill is to “prepare students to withstand indoctrination on communism at colleges and universities.”

Because of this, Florida public schools will be required to teach kindergarten through 12th graders about the history of communism. These lessons would be altered based on grade level and age. 

Sophomore Aaron Santiago explained that he agrees with the fundamental goal of this bill. “It shows how around the world, it wasn’t freedom [that] communism promoted. [This bill] will help shape kids’ minds [out of] the way the world used to run in some countries.”  

This bill will officially go into effect during the 2026-2027 school year.