Florida has just taken a meaningful step forward with the passing of the Evin B. Hartsell Act—a new law that brings disability history and awareness into K–12 classrooms across the state.
This thoughtful addition to the curriculum is designed to help students grow in empathy and understanding by learning about physical, cognitive, and developmental disabilities throughout their education. It’s about giving young people the tools to better understand the people around them and to recognize the value in every life.
The act is named in honor of Evin B. Hartsell; a great thinker, hard worker, and passionate advocate who believed in the purpose and inspiration of his own life, even while living with a severe physical disability. His legacy continues through the Foundation that bears his name, working to help the world see the true value of people with disabilities through education, awareness, and support.
Now, thousands of Florida students will grow up with a deeper understanding of disability and a greater respect for the people around them.
What Is the Evin B. Hartsell Act?
The Evin B. Hartsell Act is a new law in Florida that requires public schools to teach Disability History and Awareness in grades K–12. It’s designed to help students understand what life can look like for people with disabilities, and why their value should never be underestimated.
Here’s how the curriculum breaks down by grade level:
- Kindergarten to 3rd grade – Focus on physical disabilities and bullying
- 4th to 6th grade – Learn about autism spectrum disorder
- 7th to 9th grade – Explore hearing impairments
- 10th to 12th grade – Understand learning styles and intellectual disabilities
Each section of the curriculum is age-appropriate and created to open minds, spark conversations, and help kids build empathy from an early age. The law also allows the Florida Department of Education to work with the Evin B. Hartsell Foundation to make the curriculum even stronger.
Why This Law Matters
Disability education has long been underrepresented in school curricula. While students often study subjects like history and science in depth, they receive little exposure to the experiences of people with physical or cognitive disabilities.
That gap has real consequences.
When students don’t learn about disability, they may not know how to respond with kindness or understanding. They might assume people with disabilities are less capable. Or they might not realize the barriers that exist—both physical and social—and how to help remove them.
The Evin B. Hartsell Act helps fix that.
By putting disability education directly into Florida’s school curriculum, this law ensures that future doctors, teachers, neighbors, and voters grow up with the knowledge they need to respect and include people of all abilities.
Who Was Evin B. Hartsell?
Evin was more than the name behind the law. He was the heart behind it.
Diagnosed with muscular dystrophy as a child, Evin knew what it meant to face daily challenges. But he never let that define him. He was a thinker. A hard worker. And a passionate believer in the value of people like him—people who might need help in some areas, but who have just as much to offer as anyone else.
Even after his passing in 2018, Evin’s voice continues to reach others through his book, Abled in a Disabled World. In it, he opens up about the realities of life with a disability; what it’s like to depend on others for basic needs, what it’s like to feel overlooked, and what it means to live with strength and faith anyway.
His parents, Melisa and Scott Hartsell, helped create the Evin B. Hartsell Foundation to carry on his mission. They’ve been working ever since to get this message into classrooms, starting with colleges—and now, thanks to this law, into public schools too.
What It Means for Education in Florida
The passing of this act sends a clear message: Disability education matters.
It means teachers will have the support and resources to introduce important conversations into the classroom. It means students will learn to see value where they might not have looked before. And it means families raising children with disabilities will know the school system is taking steps to foster understanding and compassion.
This isn’t about checking a box. It’s about changing lives.
Want to Be Part of the Impact?
This law is a win for Florida. But more than that, it’s a win for every student who will grow up with a better understanding of the world around them. And it’s a win for families who have waited a long time to see their stories, their challenges, and their victories taken seriously in education.
Now that the Evin B. Hartsell Act has passed, the work is just beginning. The curriculum will need to be developed, shared, and refined. More colleges and universities are looking to offer the foundation’s post-secondary course, too.
That’s where you come in.
If this mission speaks to you, consider making a donation to support the Evin B. Hartsell Foundation. Every dollar goes toward expanding educational efforts and helping more students across the country learn what Evin already knew—that people with disabilities have real-world value.