Latest / Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott / Can The Trend of Uneducated, UnPatriotic Kids Be Reversed?

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Can The Trend of Uneducated, UnPatriotic Kids Be Reversed? · Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: All right, friends, good morning, ruminators, ladies and gentlemen, boys
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: and girls, males and females only. It is the third
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  Speaker 1: hour of the Morning Show with Preston Scott. I am Preston.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: He is Jose at Is Show five thousand, four hundred
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  Speaker 1: and sixty nine. But who's counting? Please da with us
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  Speaker 1: for the first time, the new Commissioner of Education for
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  Speaker 1: the Sunshine State, Anastasio kamutsas Commissioner.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: How are you. Good morning, Preston. Thank you so much
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: for having me on your show this morning.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Hey, my pleasure give everybody just a quick little biographical sketch.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: How did you get to the Commissioner of Education?
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  Speaker 2: Desk Ah Well, first and foremost by God's grace. It's
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  Speaker 2: been amazing the doors that have been opened up for
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  Speaker 2: me throughout my career. Went to Regent University, School of Wall,
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  Speaker 2: Conservative Christian law school. From there I went down to
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  Speaker 2: Miami to be a prosecutor my hometown. Did that for
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  Speaker 2: a couple of years, represented police officers a couple of
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: years after that, and then Richard Corkoran brought me up
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  Speaker 2: here to the Department of Education, where I served in
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  Speaker 2: the General Council's Office. I eventually ascended to General Council,
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  Speaker 2: became the Chief of Staff, went over to the Governor's Office.
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  Speaker 2: That was Deputy chief of Staff to the Governor over education,
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  Speaker 2: amongst many other agencies in my portfolio for a couple
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  Speaker 2: of years. And then when Manny Diaz was selected to
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  Speaker 2: be the president at the University of West Florida, I
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: was recommended by the Governor and unanimously selected by the
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  Speaker 2: State Board of Education to be the Commissioner of Education.
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  Speaker 1: That is no small honor when you were chosen. What
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  Speaker 1: was your first reaction?
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  Speaker 2: Incredibly humbled. It was really awesome to see at the
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  Speaker 2: State Board of Education meeting folks who spoke on my
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  Speaker 2: behalf and not just for my career here in Tallahassee,
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  Speaker 2: but I had my pastor's wife who knew me as
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  Speaker 2: a twelve year old kid, that talked about how I
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  Speaker 2: got to this point in life, and so it was
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  Speaker 2: really remarkable. And she was a thirty year plus public
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  Speaker 2: school teacher in Miami, so it was a great perspective
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  Speaker 2: to share as both someone that had tremendous influence over
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  Speaker 2: my life but also who had intimate familiarity with our
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: education system.
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  Speaker 1: I'm curious you know, unless you're the very first commissioner
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  Speaker 1: of education for a state, you're always picking up where
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  Speaker 1: somebody else left off. So when you walk into that office,
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  Speaker 1: are there sticky notes? Is there a whiteboard? I mean,
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  Speaker 1: where do you begin to kind of assess priorities?
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  Speaker 2: Sure, I'd say, Look, I don't think I ever really
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  Speaker 2: left the Department of Education, even though I was at
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  Speaker 2: the Governor's office and I was balancing quite a few agencies.
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  Speaker 2: Education has always been my passion. I've always remained intimately
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  Speaker 2: familiar with the issues that have been taking place here
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  Speaker 2: at the department. I know the staff by name at
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  Speaker 2: a building that has, you know, hundreds of employees, because
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  Speaker 2: I know the folks and the great work that they're
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: doing here and the impact that they're having across the state.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: And so I was always very close with Commissioner man
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  Speaker 2: ideas I was as chief of staff and maintained that
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  Speaker 2: close relationship over in the Governor's office, and so I
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  Speaker 2: was pretty apprised of all the issues. It was. It
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  Speaker 2: was an easy thing to come in and pick up
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  Speaker 2: the reins and keep it moving.
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  Speaker 1: One of the first things that you've kind of pushed
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  Speaker 1: out of your office is something that you know, people
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  Speaker 1: might see the initials FCDI not know what Florida Civics
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  Speaker 1: and Debate Initiative is all about. So break it down
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  Speaker 1: for us.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, the Florida Civics and Debate Initiative was, you know,
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  Speaker 2: is an amazing program champion by Governor DeSantis where all
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  Speaker 2: sixty seven of our school districts are participating in civic
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  Speaker 2: dialogue and it really is an amazing opportunity for students
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  Speaker 2: to not just argue one side, but to argue both
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  Speaker 2: sides of an issue. And the Governor talks about this
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  Speaker 2: frequently of how important it is that students understand that
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  Speaker 2: there are always two perspectives of an issue, and we
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  Speaker 2: have to respectfully approach debate and civic discourse with individuals
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  Speaker 2: in a respectful manner so that you are appreciating different perspectives.
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  Speaker 2: It doesn't necessarily mean you have to adopt those opinions,
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  Speaker 2: but but you do want to encourage in our students
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  Speaker 2: and appreciation from multiple perspectives.
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  Speaker 1: And this is going to be a competition that statewide
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  Speaker 1: and it culminates with an awarding of a trophy. And
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  Speaker 1: tell us about the naming of the trophy.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, So We're naming the Civics and Debate Championship Trophy
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  Speaker 2: after Charlie Kirk to honor his legacy of courage and
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  Speaker 2: conviction in the public square. I think this shows students
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  Speaker 2: that true leadership is about standing boldly for your ideas
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  Speaker 2: even in the face of opposition, not tearing others down
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  Speaker 2: with cruelty or reckless words. And so by attaching Charlie
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  Speaker 2: Kirk's name to this award, I think we remind every
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  Speaker 2: competitor that is about strength of character, respect for others,
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  Speaker 2: and the responsibility we all share to preserve our republic.
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  Speaker 2: His legacy will inspire Florida students to lead with passion, principle,
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  Speaker 2: and respect, which I believe are qualities that our death,
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  Speaker 2: our nation desperately needs right now.
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  Speaker 3: Wherever you may be, from Florida Sunshine State to California,
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: I scratch that California is hopeless for the rest. We're
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: your Morning show, The Morning Show with Preston Scott.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: He is Florida's Commissioner of Education. In Astasio Kamusis. I
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  Speaker 1: want to follow up on that Charlie Kirk reference, and
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  Speaker 1: I think the appropriate naming of the trophy dealing with
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  Speaker 1: civics and dialogue. A local school board member here Stassy
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  Speaker 1: Daryl Jones with the Leon County School Board, posted this
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  Speaker 1: on his social media before deleting it, and it was
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  Speaker 1: the problem is that the Commissioner of Edge, from his
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  Speaker 1: lofty position, found it necessary to inform an entire profession
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  Speaker 1: that it should not comment on the murder of a racist, misogynist,
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  Speaker 1: homophobic clansmen in negative terms. Now, I'm going to just
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  Speaker 1: set aside the foolishness of the comment itself because it's uneducated,
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  Speaker 1: but the fact that he has not apologized or been
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  Speaker 1: called to account for that as it references teachers being
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  Speaker 1: held accountable for the posts that they make relative to
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  Speaker 1: the murder and assassination of Charlie Kirk. Your thoughts on
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  Speaker 1: this and this guy remaining on the school board without
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  Speaker 1: an apology.
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  Speaker 2: Well, thank you for the question. Unfortunately, we have repeatedly
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  Speaker 2: had to call out school board officials across Florida for
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  Speaker 2: posting reckless comments about public figures, including our President, Charlie Kirk,
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  Speaker 2: and even our own governor. These are not slip ups,
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  Speaker 2: These are not casual remarks. They are toxic, irresponsible, and
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  Speaker 2: corrosive to the public. Trusts. School board members are elected
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  Speaker 2: to protect children and serve families. When they indulge in
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  Speaker 2: this kind of behavior, they betray that trust, They create division,
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  Speaker 2: and they make students feel unsafe. I was just at
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  Speaker 2: a Lachua County school board meeting where another school board
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  Speaker 2: member made a similar reckless remark that had to reference
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  Speaker 2: the sparaging comments of Charlie Kirk and his funeral service,
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  Speaker 2: but referenced him as an uneducated white boy. And it
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  Speaker 2: just has no place in our school system. It is
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  Speaker 2: divisive language that now may alienates an entire population of students,
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  Speaker 2: of parents, of quite frankly employees of the school district.
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  Speaker 2: And so you know, it's been problematic, and we've seen
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  Speaker 2: it not just in school board members, but we've seen
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  Speaker 2: it in teachers. In Clay County, there was a teacher
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  Speaker 2: who openly celebrated Charlie Kirk's death on social social media.
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  Speaker 2: We investigated that case, wend I found probable cause. But
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  Speaker 2: that kind of conduct shows gross and morality and reduced effectiveness.
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  Speaker 2: Her statement was that it wasn't the obituary she was
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  Speaker 2: hoping for, but it was a close second for her,
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  Speaker 2: and it was attached to an article that said Charlie
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  Speaker 2: Kirk had been assassinated on a school campus. And so
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  Speaker 2: when teachers or school board members cross that line, you know,
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  Speaker 2: to the extent we can hold them accountable, we will.
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  Speaker 2: Teachers who are celebrating these tragedies are dangerous to children,
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  Speaker 2: quite frankly, as you're supposed to be. These are supposed
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  Speaker 2: to be the role models in the classrooms. Young impressionable
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  Speaker 2: minds are seeing educators that they look up to post
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  Speaker 2: these statements because these posts are going viral, unfortunately, and
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  Speaker 2: it's just not the kind of message that we want
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  Speaker 2: to send to our students. There should never be the
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  Speaker 2: glorification of a school shooter or a school shooting, and
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  Speaker 2: so on our watch, we're going to make sure that
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  Speaker 2: there are consequences to pay as a result of those statements.
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  Speaker 1: What if anything should happen to a school board member,
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  Speaker 1: whether they you know, leave it posted or not, they
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  Speaker 1: don't issue a retraction or a public apology. So is
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  Speaker 1: what does accountability mean there?
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  Speaker 2: I think the greatest accountability is going to be on
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  Speaker 2: the voters. I think they need to understand that this
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  Speaker 2: individual does not have the best interests of our students
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  Speaker 2: or our teachers. When they're making their public service about themselves.
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  Speaker 2: This is a selfish act that's intended to draw attention
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  Speaker 2: to themselves. Where our school board member Daniel Folk are excusing,
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  Speaker 2: our State Board of Education member Daniel fog and Holy
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  Speaker 2: said it best that these are individuals who are seeking
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  Speaker 2: attention by making these social media posts and not retracting
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  Speaker 2: their apologies because they're gaining media coverage and in their minds,
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  Speaker 2: I think they think it's an opportunity for them to
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  Speaker 2: chase the next political career opportunity for themselves. It's not
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  Speaker 2: student focused, it's not parent focused or teacher focused, and
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  Speaker 2: as a result, districts are suffering negative consequences and negative
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  Speaker 2: media coverage because one individual making this issue about themselves
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  Speaker 2: as opposed to unifying the students and trying to direct
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  Speaker 2: them towards some positivity that can result from such a
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  Speaker 2: horrific tragedy. And that's what we tried to do with
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  Speaker 2: the Florida Civics and Debate initiative by naming the trophy
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  Speaker 2: after Charlie Kirk because he was a champion for civic
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  Speaker 2: discourse and open dialogue, a champion for the First Amendment
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  Speaker 2: and the importance of respecting other ideas, not taking it
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  Speaker 2: upon ourselves to engage in violent acts with those we
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  Speaker 2: disagree with.
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  Speaker 1: I know you got a role, but just to follow
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  Speaker 1: up and put a bow on this particular topic, Commissioner,
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  Speaker 1: but what if the board member is not just a
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  Speaker 1: school board member elected, but is in fact an employee
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  Speaker 1: of one of the municipalities.
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  Speaker 2: Well, look, I mean I don't know from our standpoint
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  Speaker 2: that that would make a difference. I mean, I have
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  Speaker 2: regulatory authority with a tea for a teaching certificate. So
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  Speaker 2: if it's a school board member that has a teaching
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  Speaker 2: certificate and there's a behavior that they engage in that,
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: thank you, then I would be able to, you know,
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  Speaker 2: investigate and take action on that. But you know, as
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  Speaker 2: far as a municipal employee, look, I mean obviously I
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: work in the world of administrative law, but labor and
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: employment law has different standards, and sure, you know, ultimately,
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  Speaker 2: if you're a poor representative of your employer, then employers
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  Speaker 2: should and you know, are encouraged to take action because
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  Speaker 2: it's a reflection on the work that they provide.
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  Speaker 1: Fair Enough, Commissioner, look forward to having your back on
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  Speaker 1: the program whenever you like. Thanks for the time to day.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you, Preston, have a great one job.
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: Blessed Nostasios Kamutsis. He is the Commissioner of Education for Florida.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know if Vince Long, the county administrator for
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  Speaker 1: Leon County, caught that, but it's on you now. I
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: don't necessarily think he needs to lose his job. I
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: do think he needs to be told to apologize, retract
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  Speaker 1: the statement publicly, or lose your job. But he's paid for.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: He's an employee of taxpayers, not just as an elected
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  Speaker 1: official as a school board member, but for the county.