Ocoee in law: teaching passed, compensation died (Tallahassee, 2020; Ocoee, 2018–2025)

SUMMARYOcoee in law: teaching passed, compensation died (Tallahassee, 2020; Ocoee, 2018–2025) [Connections: Tallahassee & Orlando, Nov 5, 2026]

RECORDHB 1213 (2020), Chapter 2020-88, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on June 23, 2020, directs the Commissioner of Education's African American History Task Force to "examine ways in which the history of the 1920 Ocoee Election Day Riots" will be included in required instruction, with recommendations by "March 1, 2021." The compensation bill SB 1264 (2020), which would have created a descendants' trust fund, died in committee; the linked SB 1262 text would have capped awards at "$150,000 per individual" victimized and required proof of lineage "including census records"; SB 1262 passed the Senate 40-0 but died in the House. Ocoee issued a proclamation in 2018 and an apology letter in 2020, and unveiled a memorial wall listing 263 Black residents on Nov. 2, 2024. In November 2025 descendants said no compensation has ever been offered for "the land, businesses, and future taken" (Spectrum News 13 paraphrase); July Perry's great-niece Sha'ron Cooley McWhite: "memories alone cannot repair the damage."

PATTERNThe state wrote the event into the curriculum but not into compensation; lineage proof would have run through census records

LENS (WW9)They will teach it, but they have not paid for it: this was our land

OPENNote the client's lead said 2021; the teaching law is 2020 (recommendations due 2021). Any 2021–2026 compensation bills need a search of later sessions

SOURCEBill Summary HB 1213 (Florida Senate); SB 1262 (2020) history (Florida Senate); CS for SB 1262 text (Florida Senate); Descendants of Ocoee Election Day violence want compensation (Spectrum News 13, Nov. 4, 2025).