TALLAHASSEE, FL – Today, the Senate Rules Committee voted to pass Senate Bill 1372 (SB 1372), a government censorship bill prohibiting discussions of institutional racism, oppression, and identity politics in teacher training programs. It seeks to expand the same unconstitutional Stop WOKE prohibitions to teacher preparation courses.
The bill now heads to the Senate Floor. The House companion bill, HB 1291, is also en route to the House floor. The ACLU of Florida opposes these harmful bills.
Kara Gross, legislative director and senior policy counsel at the ACLU of Florida, responded to each with the following:
“The First Amendment protects our right to read, learn, debate, and discuss popular and unpopular views, regardless of whether they align with the viewpoints of the majority in power.
“This government censorship bill targeting teacher training programs, like several other unconstitutional censorship bills from prior sessions, prohibits teaching, discussing, and learning about topics related to identity politics, systemic racism, sexism, and oppression.
“It is a waste of taxpayer dollars and the public’s resources to continue to pass unconstitutional legislation. Floridians, taxpayers, and the rest of the country have had enough of the Governor’s extremist ‘anti-woke’ agenda.”
