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New bill would add voter education to the curriculum at Florida schools

Posted at 7:28 AM, Feb 03, 2021
and last updated 2021-02-03 12:30:32-05

FORT MYERS, Fla. — A new bill going before Florida lawmakers this legislative session would require your kids to learn about voting in school.

The new curriculum would be required at all public schools in the state. Some grade levels would even learn how to fill out an official ballot. That’s just the start of how your child's curriculum could change.

Changes would begin at the elementary school level, where kids would learn about basic character development. This would stress things like patriotism, citizenship, racial, ethnic, and religious tolerance.

Middle and high school curriculum would go a step further to include instruction on voting. Students would actually learn how to use the uniform primary and general election ballot.

Fox 4 spoke with Representative Brad Drake who filed this bill and asked what prompted him to do so. He shared the following statement:

"After every election cycle that passes, I continue to be amazed that some people can not, simply, vote correctly. As simple of a task as it is - to fill in a bubble - it baffles me that elections audits and hand recounts continue to show that some people will “miss the mark” in the civil expression. So I just decided that maybe we should practice this exercise beginning in middle school. That gives kids about 5-7 years of practice for when they become legally eligible at the age of 18.”

In addition to voting, the bill also mentions professional development for high school students. Specifically, it would require educators to teach your kids about things like creating a resume, interviewing for a job, and workplace ethics.

If passed, this would become a part of your child's curriculum in July.