In a welcome move for common-sense education and patriotic teaching, Nebraska State Sen. Dave Murman (R-Glenvil), chair of the Education Committee, introduced Legislative Bill 1024 (LB1024) on January 13, 2026. The bill would require K-12 schools across the Cornhusker State to teach the history and “evils” of communism beginning in the 2026-2027 or 2027-2028 school year—a move conservatives say is long overdue in a country where young Americans increasingly express sympathy for socialist and even communist ideas.
LB1024 is designed to provide students with an unflinching look at the atrocities committed under communist regimes worldwide. The curriculum would cover the horrors of the Soviet Union, China’s Cultural Revolution, religious persecution, mass killings, and other leftist-driven atrocities. It would also provide historical context for U.S. communist movements and compare totalitarian ideology with the freedoms guaranteed by American democracy.
Sen. Murman emphasized that the bill is a response to the failure of existing education standards to prepare young Americans to understand the real-world consequences of radical leftist ideologies. “There are a lot of students, especially in college and those out of the K-12 system, who seem to support socialism and even communism nowadays,” Murman told reporters. “We just have to be diligent that the risks and dangers—the bad things that happen under communism—are taught in our schools.”
The legislation also outlines clear implementation standards: the State Board of Education must adopt academic content standards by January 1, 2027, and civics committees will be required to align social studies curricula with those standards. Students would take written civics assessments before the 8th and 12th grades, ensuring that every young Nebraskan understands not only the history of communism but also the principles of American democracy that safeguard liberty and prevent government overreach.
The bill explicitly highlights the importance of teaching age-appropriate lessons on atrocities committed in the name of communism, including mass killings, the persecution of religious believers, and the economic and political disasters left in its wake. Lawmakers sponsoring the bill argue this is essential not just for historical understanding, but for civic literacy and the protection of American values.
Not surprisingly, left-leaning education officials and radical activists have pushed back. Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, dismissed the bill as “poor standards” and insisted that teachers—not lawmakers—should write the curriculum. Social media erupted with predictable outrage from the far-left, with posts mocking the legislation as “radical right propaganda” and absurdly claiming that the U.S. Constitution somehow mirrors communism.
But conservatives and parents pushing back argue the bill is common sense. After decades of progressive influence in public schools, too many young Americans enter adulthood unaware of the historical and human costs of socialism and communism. Nebraska’s move could serve as a model for other states seeking to restore honest, fact-based education about ideologies that have killed hundreds of millions worldwide.
As Sen. Murman put it plainly: “We need students to understand the dangers. History isn’t something to sanitize. It’s something to learn from—so we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past.”
In a time when leftist ideas gain popularity on college campuses and even among K-12 students, Nebraska is stepping up to ensure that truth—not ideology—guides the next generation. LB1024 represents a victory for parents, educators, and citizens who want American schools to teach history, civic responsibility, and the critical lesson that communism is a failed, deadly ideology.
This is the kind of legislation conservatives have been calling for: a clear-eyed look at history, and a refusal to let radical ideology go unchallenged in the classroom.
