School policies are at the heart of DeSantis’s political success

Advocates of universal public schooling argued schools would inculcate ‘Americanism.’ Now that thinking drives right-wing policy.

Ron DeSantis is a darling of the conservative world — except perhaps for Donald Trump — after his smashing reelection victory on a night when Democrats otherwise did fairly well. Conservatives were already favorably inclined toward DeSantis because he has leaned into the culture wars, especially in education. While some of his efforts have generated major headlines, one has flown below the radar. On Nov. 7, public school students in Florida joined students in four other states — Utah, Texas, Alabama and Virginia — in memorializing “the 100 million people who have fallen victim to communist regimes across the world.”

This state-mandated mourning came in recognition of Victims of Communism Memorial Day timed to coincide with the anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. The Trump administration created the holiday in 2017 at the request of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC), a right-wing nonprofit organization.

The effort spotlights how an argument used by advocates of public schooling to build support for universal public education has become a potent weapon for conservatives to push their cultural agenda on American children. . .

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