ORLANDO, Fla. – As Central Florida students head back to school, a new law has taken effect, impacting what teachers can be taught.
Teacher-preparation programs lead to educators getting their professional certificates, but the state is now blocking these programs from sharing what’s referred to as “identity politics.”
State Rep. Berny Jacques is one of the authors of HB 1291 - Educator Preparation Programs.
“We want to push back against some of those themes — all of those themes, quite frankly,” Jacques told News 6.
The law took effect in July and now prohibits what teachers can be taught in prep programs that lead to their certifications.
“Removing the indoctrination from our curriculum and to making sure that kids are focused on the basics”, Jacques said.
HB 1291 is only six pages long, but one paragraph struck a nerve with critics.
“Teacher-prep programs are prohibited from using curriculums based on theories that ‘systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States,’” the law states.
“Whether it was the critical race theory and other notions of systemic racism,” Jacques said. “There are individual racists. Absolutely. But this is not a racist country.”
Programs may not “distort significant historical events or include a curriculum or instruction that teaches identity politics,” according to the law, but it does not define identity politics, something critics say is a problem.
Keisha Mulfort is the Senior Communication Strategist with the American Civil Liberties Union.
“The bill is purposefully vague,” said Mulfort. “And they left it vague so that people can figure it out on their own,” she said.
Critics believe HB1291 is an extension of House Bill 7, which the legislature passed in 2022, also known as the Stop Woke Act.
It prohibited schools and businesses from teaching certain concepts related to inherent racism, sexism, privilege, or oppression, but it was challenged in court and blocked from taking effect.
Mulfort believes HB1291 could have the same fate.
“We are concerned with the censorship, the deep censorship that this government is continuing to push,’ Mulfort said. “It’s deeply concerning, and it’s only going to further the teacher shortage that we are already seeing.”
Representative Jacques says the republican led legislature is working on the teacher shortage, by increasing teacher pay.
He believes more teachers will stay in the profession for that, rather than leave over concerns about the curriculum.