HB1060 requires the state Department of Education to update middle- and high-school social-studies standards by the 2026-27 school year to emphasize the failures of communism and autocratic governments and the strength of the U.S. constitutional republic. The revised curriculum must compare forms of government, highlight constitutional limits and discuss the oppression and bleak historical records of communist and autocratic regimes such as the USSR, China, and North Korea. It also must teach how democracies often deteriorate into autocracies, reinforcing appreciation for America’s system of limited, constitutional government.
The Arkansas State House of Representatives passed HB1060 on February 11, 2025 by a vote of 70 to 16. We have assigned pluses to the ayes because, while parents should ultimately remove their children from government schools and pursue true education through private or home instruction—such as FreedomProject Academy—this bill is a welcome corrective within the public system. For decades, government schools have downplayed or ignored the evils of communism, socialism, and authoritarian rule while promoting democracy as synonymous with freedom. HB1060 begins to reverse that trend by requiring instruction on the failures of collectivist regimes and the unique safeguards of our constitutional republic. Teaching students that democracies often devolve into mob rule and tyranny, while the U.S. Constitution was designed to protect God-given rights through limited government, is essential to preserving liberty. If properly implemented, this measure could help restore understanding of America’s true form of government and the dangers of abandoning it.
