Members of a House subcommittee have voted to kill legislation that would require Oklahoma schools to teach children about the evils of communism.

House Bill 1094, by state Rep. Gabe Woolley, R-Broken Arrow, would have required that children in grades six through 12 be taught about “the atrocities of communism” in accordance with existing Oklahoma Academic Standards by integrating the material into one or more existing courses of study.

Woolley taught school for nine years and noted that some units do not get taught in schools when officials feel pressed for time at the end of a school year. As a result, he said the evils of communism may not always be taught to Oklahoma students even though aspects of that topic are included in state academic standards.

“In my experience, when we get pressed for time for testing at the end of the year, sometimes administrators will let you know which units in there could be skipped over,” Woolley said.

By putting a requirement into law, he said the issue would no longer be viewed as a topic that can be skipped.

“I think it’s important to recognize parts of our history that we would not want to repeat and teach that so that we are learning from our history,” Woolley said.

He said the bill would not require schools to purchase any additional teaching materials and said he had been able to supplement education on communism in his classes without added expense.

Lawmakers in Florida passed a similar law in 2024.

HB 1094 would have required that Oklahoma students be taught about communism in a way that fosters “an understanding of the causes, rise, and consequences of communist regimes, including the historical context of hostile takeovers and political revolutions;” explores “the human cost of communism, including the systematic slaughter, imprisonment, and oppression of individuals, as well as the loss of basic freedoms and human rights;” examines “the effects of communism on societies, economies, and cultures;” promotes “dialogue on the advantages and protections afforded to Americans through the principles of the United States’ constitutional republic political structure, including individual liberties, property rights, and the rule of law;” and encourages “students to evaluate the values and outcomes of freedom, constitutional republics, and human dignity.”

State Rep. John Waldron, a Tulsa Democrat and former history teacher, objected to the bill.

“History is all about choices,” Waldron said. “We’re going to choose this over that, and to specifically write into the statute the choice that we are going to teach—say, the killing fields of Cambodia or the  Holodomor in the Ukraine—suggests a political purpose. What’s our purpose?”

“The purpose is to teach accurate history,” Woolley said.

He noted the bill did not mandate how much time had to be devoted to the topic of communism, saying that would be left up to local districts.

Other lawmakers suggested schools would struggle to comply with the law under certain circumstances.

But state Rep. Chad Caldwell, R-Enid, noted this would not be the first time lawmakers had passed legislation directing that specific topics be covered in public schools, noting Oklahoma law requires teaching on the Nazi Holocaust that killed millions of European Jews.

Waldron dismissed that comparison, saying that law “imposed no requirements on school districts” to actually teach about the Holocaust, and instead simply directed the Oklahoma State Department of Education to develop materials related to the topic.

However, that law states, “Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, Holocaust education shall be taught to students in grades six through twelve in public schools in this state, as prescribed in the Oklahoma Academic Standards. Holocaust education may be integrated into one or more existing courses of study …”

HB 1094 failed on a 4-6 vote of the House Appropriations and Budget Education Subcommittee. The opponents included four Republicans and two Democrats.