Soon-to-be Education Commissioner Manny Diaz has worn many hats in his career, starting with teaching geography, history, social studies and psychology at public high schools in Miami. Today, he鈥檚 a Republican state Senator from Hialeah and works as the Vice President of Finance for Doral College. Diaz is also a staunch supporter of school choice which he says is falsely equated as being against public schools.
Sen. Manny Diaz, R-Hialeah, says he remains a certified teacher in the state of Florida. Even though his career has taken him far from the public high school classrooms where he started. Diaz was recently recommended by Gov. Ron DeSantis to become state education commissioner. He鈥檒l replace Richard Corcoran, who steps down at the end of this month. Diaz says while he鈥檚 no longer in the classroom, the experiences stick with him.
鈥淲hat I learned are the two most important things in a school are leadership鈥攖he person in charge, the principal, and the quality of teacher in the classroom. And when I say quality, I mean a well-rounded teacher that鈥檚 not only able to connect with students, but incentivize them to get into learning, to get into discussions, to get them to critically think.鈥�
One of the reasons Diaz says he turned to the choice movement is also because of his experience in public schools. Diaz says he taught honors courses, and also worked with kids who were at-risk of dropping out. As an administrator, he also saw more of the parent side of things.
鈥淲hat was frustrating to me is, a lot of time the customer service wasn鈥檛 there. A lot of times there was the attitude of 鈥榳hat are you going to do? You have no choice. It鈥檚 not like you can take your child to some other school.鈥� You have to have a special permission to transfer. I think a lot of those things were archaic. They were hurting the quality of our schools.鈥�
Diaz acknowledges the tension between school choice advocates and traditional public school supporters. He鈥檚 sponsored a series of legislative proposals that increases tuition assistance to parents who want to send their kids to private schools. He鈥檚 backed charter school expansion. But he rejects the binary of either traditional schools or private and charters.
鈥淲hen you say choice, we鈥檙e not talking about one choice or the other. I think our job in the legislature has been to allow parents the opportunity to choose, not for us to drive students to one particular setting or another, but to have a quilt of options that parents can choose," he said.
It鈥檚 clear where Diaz stands on the issue. He is set to assume control of the Florida Department of Education amid an ongoing and deepening exodus of teachers from schools. The shortages are most pronounced in public schools, but even private schools and charters are struggling to find people. Teaching has taken big hits in recent years鈥攅ven this past legislative session saw teachers vilified over allegations of trying to indoctrinate children or worse-calling them 鈥済roomers鈥� a term used to describe people who try to abuse children. Diaz acknowledges that sort of talk doesn鈥檛 do anything to encourage people to go into the profession, and he wants to change the tone around teaching.
鈥淚 hate to use such a simplistic term but How do you make teaching cool again? Because this is a profession a lot of women went into and they were respected for the work they were doing, and it鈥檚 become鈥攜ou鈥檙e right, there are some critics.鈥�
His predecessor, Richard Corcoran, was a bold, outspoken commissioner who often clashed publicly and loudly with some school district superintendents and the state teachers union. Diaz is aware that many traditional school backers are watching him with wary eyes. He and DeSantis are in alignment with their pro-choice views of education, but Diaz says he plans to lead differently from Corcoran and calls himself a "blank slate."
鈥淲hether we agree or disagree, that鈥檚 part of the process. I鈥檓 going to be open, I鈥檓 going to have conversations and I鈥檓 going to listen. We may not agree, we may never agree. But I am going to open and accessible, and I look forward to pushing for the teachers in our classroom and our schools, but ultimately at the benefit of our students," he said.
The State Board of Education will take up the governor鈥檚 recommendation for Diaz to become state education commissioner on Friday.
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