Education Dept. Urges Schools to Teach History, Consequences of Communism

Education Dept. Urges Schools to Teach History, Consequences of Communism

Wouldn’t it be nice if higher education stopped pushing communism and began teaching the facts?

Campus Reform reports:

Education Department urges schools to teach communism’s history

The U.S. Department of Education is urging schools and colleges to strengthen instruction about the history and consequences of communism and socialism while highlighting states that have adopted requirements addressing communist history.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon issued a Dear Colleague letter Sept. 30 ahead of the 10th U.S. National Day for the Victims of Communism on Nov. 7, which honors “more than 100 million people who lost their lives under communist regimes.”

The department said schools should provide students with historical context about communist and socialist regimes, including political repression, economic failures and suppression of dissent.

Gallup reported Sept. 23 that 43% of Americans viewed socialism positively, the highest percentage in its trend since 2010.

“At a time when young Americans are expressing positive impressions of socialism in record numbers, it is more important than ever for students to learn and understand the devastating human consequences of communist and socialist regimes,” McMahon said.

Florida requires public schools to teach the history of communism beginning in the 2026-27 school year. State law requires instruction covering domestic communist movements, atrocities committed under communist regimes, comparisons between communism and totalitarianism, the Cultural Revolution in China, other mass killings and the spread of communist ideology throughout Latin America.

Florida law separately requires the state to observe Nov. 7 as Victims of Communism Day. Beginning with the 2023-24 school year, high school students enrolled in the required U.S. Government course must receive at least 45 minutes of instruction addressing figures and regimes including Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin, Fidel Castro, Vladimir Lenin, Pol Pot, and Nicolás Maduro and their respective regimes.

The federal guidance comes as some universities continue offering courses and student organizations focused on Marxist and communist thought.

Florida International University’s philosophy curriculum lists PHP 4510, “Marxism,” among courses that can be used in certain philosophy degree tracks. At the University of South Florida in Tampa, Associate Professor Peter Funke teaches Marxism and serves as faculty adviser to the university’s Young Democratic Socialists of America chapter.

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