GOP members move to stop teachers from being indoctrinated with 'identity politics, woke ideology'

The Florida House voted Friday to approve a bill restricting curricula for educator preparation programs and courses. The effort is similar to the 2022 policy in the Legislature that was meant to remove instruction on systemic racism, sexism, oppression and privilege from public schools.

Republican lawmakers positioned HB 1291 as an attempt to stop teachers from being indoctrinated with “identity politics and woke ideology,” whereas Democrats said it was another attempt to erase history.

The state Senate and the governor still have to approve the bill.

“If you have the educators themselves who are being indoctrinated along the way. They were being indoctrinated when they were coming up as teachers, and, now, they’re being indoctrinated in their continuing education courses,” said Republican Rep. Berny Jacques of Pinellas County. He is one of the sponsors of the bill. “So it still seeps through, and this is what this bill is about. This bill is about filling in that gap and enforcing the great policies that we passed to stop woke indoctrination in our schools.”