The year is 2024, and the America the founding fathers fought for has become very divisive, beset on all sides by various issues, including political correctness and inclusivity policies. However, the Governor of Florida has taken a firm stand, choosing to approve new regulations that will completely alter what educators learn in teacher training programs across the state.
According to the new law, no teaching curriculum must allude to the existence of systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege in America.

The new law will definitely receive backlash from some people, but Governor DeSantis has said the whole point of it is to promote an objective approach to training educators. He specifically stated that the new law leaves no allowance for DEI culture, nor will there be “bogus history.” Instead, the training will only involve “standard teacher preparation without having an ideological agenda.”

The law has been approved by the Governor but will not be enforced until July 1. It states that teacher education programs must avoid distorting significant historical events while pushing those who want to be educators to “think critically.” The legislation highlights its goal of facilitating a fact-based, unbiased learning environment in schools in the state.

DeSantis is no fan of Florida’s current educational system, which is rife with talk of DEI and systemic inequality. He believes this is an ideological approach to imparting knowledge and hopes that with this new law, education will break free of these biases and focus primarily on confirmed historical facts and critical thinking skills.

Those who sponsored the law have expressed happiness that it was approved. One of the sponsors is Rep. Berny Jacques, who believes that the law will help Florida get rid of the “trash” festering in its educational system.

As earlier stated, backlash is to be expected to follow the approval of such a polarizing law and unsurprisingly, several educational leaders seem to be against it, claiming that it forces the training programs to ignore the reality of what is happening in the state.

Andrew Spar, President of the Florida Education Association, is one of those who object to the law getting enforced. He believes that the law will do little good for the students and pointed out that Florida’s public education system needs more investment, too. As things stand, Florida is one of the states that pays teachers the lowest salaries, and Spar believes the state can do better. In fact, he seemed to suggest that was where the focus needed to be, not on the curriculum.

The American Historical Association has also been vocal about its opposition to the law. It conveyed its opposition in a letter that reached Florida legislators earlier this year. They fear that this new law could prevent teachers from doing their jobs “with integrity” while undermining individual teachers’ professional judgment.

This new law may seem like an isolated thing but it is actually part of broader educational reforms happening under DeSantis’ administration. A good example of this reform is the recent legislation that makes it compulsory to teach the kids about how evil the thought of communism is, tactics used by American communist movements, and negative events that happened under communist regimes beginning in the 2026-27 academic year.

The new law will be implemented on July 1, which is merely a couple of weeks away. As the date draws ever closer, school districts and higher education institutions in the state have been getting ready to alter their curricula to comply. Many expect that these changes will affect teaching preparation as we know it.

Thanks to this law, Florida takes the lead in the national debate about the role education plays in addressing discussions of polarizing topics like the DEI culture. This means that the state’s educational policies under DeSantis’ administration are being closely monitored by educators and policymakers all over the US, and depending on the outcome, they may set a precedent for others to follow.