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Why Did Florida's Education Commissioner Attend The Leon School Board Meeting? · Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: This is a radio program today that is to borrow
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: from Dan Patrick's days on ESPN Sports Center in Fuego. Yeah,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: we are. We are dealing it today, my friends, and
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  Speaker 1: it's great to share time with you, no matter where,
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: no matter how. Thank you very much. It's a privilege
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: to be with you, and we thank you for your time.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: We always want to make the most of it, and
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: we want to make the most of the time of
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: this gentleman. He is the Commissioner of Education for the
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: Sunshine State. Anastasios Kumutsas. Kamutsas is with us. How are you, sir,
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: Good to have you back on the program.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, Presco Preston, thank you so much for having
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  Speaker 2: me on the show. Looking forward to discussing on something
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  Speaker 2: that impacts both you and I as Leon County residents.
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  Speaker 1: Well let's start there now. Obviously, we've got listeners all
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: over the state and in fact all over the country
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  Speaker 1: because of iHeartRadio, and so, as I like to point out,
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  Speaker 1: you can learn lessons by just paying attention to what
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: goes on in any local community. And I think that
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  Speaker 1: what's happening here in Leon County as it relates to
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  Speaker 1: education is a really great opportunity for people to learn lessons.
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  Speaker 1: So let me start with this, why did you choose
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  Speaker 1: to come to the school board meeting on Tuesday night?
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  Speaker 2: So the reason I was going is, I know there's
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  Speaker 2: been quite a bit of scrutiny on two major issues
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  Speaker 2: right now in Leon County. The first as a school
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  Speaker 2: board member Daryl Jones, who has engaged in social media
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  Speaker 2: posts as it relates to Charlie Kirk that are totally
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  Speaker 2: divisive and inappropriate, and so there's been some outrage in
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  Speaker 2: the community. And I know there wasn't the only public
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  Speaker 2: speaker that evening. The superintendent called me out, suggesting that
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  Speaker 2: this was an intimidation tactic, But I think he fails
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  Speaker 2: to recognize he is a public service and at the
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  Speaker 2: end of the day that answers to constituents. I am,
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  Speaker 2: in fact one of the constituents of Leon County, and
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  Speaker 2: so I am allowed to be able to provide public
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  Speaker 2: comment at a school board meeting. And I did that
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  Speaker 2: as it relates to the Daryl Jones post. But I also,
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  Speaker 2: as Commissioner of Education, wanted to show the school board
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: and the superintendent there is a pass forward as it
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  Speaker 2: relates to these teachers salaries, and so I took the
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  Speaker 2: time to address both issues, and they're very pressing issues.
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  Speaker 2: I have continued to beat the drum and make sure
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  Speaker 2: it's a priority that these teachers in Leon County are
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  Speaker 2: receiving the compensation increases that they deserve. I am a
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  Speaker 2: huge advocate for the educators and making sure that we
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  Speaker 2: receive it in the timely fashion. Year after year, Leon
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  Speaker 2: County has failed and paying their teachers these salary increases
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  Speaker 2: that the governor appropriates in a timely fashion. And so
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  Speaker 2: to this year, we're doing everything we can so that
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  Speaker 2: they understand we're advocating for them to get those pay increases.
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  Speaker 1: We're talking about. Over the last six years, nearly six
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  Speaker 1: billion dollars has been put in place solely to improve
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  Speaker 1: and increase teach your pay. I'm curious, I personally think
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  Speaker 1: the fault lies on both sides. What's your perspective.
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  Speaker 2: I don't disagree, I think, and then I said it
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  Speaker 2: at the meeting. Leon County families and educators deserve better,
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  Speaker 2: and it's up to Superintendent Hannah and the Leon County
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  Speaker 2: School Board to deliver. Leon County Schools continues to show
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  Speaker 2: a lack of effective leadership how is it a year
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  Speaker 2: after year totally nearly six billion dollars Over the past
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  Speaker 2: six years, Leon County has repeatedly failed to deliver those
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  Speaker 2: raises on time. Last year, teachers had to wait over
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  Speaker 2: six months before they saw those pay increases reflected in
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: their paychecks. And what's interesting is that they continue to
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  Speaker 2: criticize the governor as if he is not championing this
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  Speaker 2: initiative to give teachers the pay increases. Let me remind folks,
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  Speaker 2: he had one point five billion dollars last year alone
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  Speaker 2: recommended in his budget. The legislature landed on one point
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  Speaker 2: thirty six billion dollars, which was still an increase from
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  Speaker 2: the year before. That was an increase of about one
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  Speaker 2: hundred and two million dollars, but again that's money that
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  Speaker 2: is only dedicated for teacher salary increases. Let's also talk
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  Speaker 2: about the highest ever per student funding at nine one
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  Speaker 2: hundred and thirty dollars per student, which is an increase
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  Speaker 2: of nearly one hundred and fifty dollars per student. And
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  Speaker 2: so the district has the ability to be able to
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  Speaker 2: utilize the flexibility. You'll recall in the first year, I
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  Speaker 2: think new teachers were prioritized to increase that starting salary,
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  Speaker 2: and then there was full flexibility given to the school
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  Speaker 2: district to be able to make sure that the veteran
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  Speaker 2: educators were seeing similar pay increases in the salaries. And
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  Speaker 2: so as it relates to Leon County, instead of correcting
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  Speaker 2: task and mistakes and finalizing teacher pay agreements on time,
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  Speaker 2: we see that the Leon County Schools is once again
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  Speaker 2: dragging its seat. I also want to say that while
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  Speaker 2: the state invests in teachers and classrooms, yeah, Leon County
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  Speaker 2: is prioritizing executive staff and administrative paid which is a
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  Speaker 2: real problem.
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  Speaker 1: You touched on something here at the very end of
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  Speaker 1: that last segment that I think is worth expanding on.
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  Speaker 1: You know, it has long been believed that though there
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  Speaker 1: are some fine people working in the district, just like
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  Speaker 1: there are some great teachers and administrators, but Leon County
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  Speaker 1: has long earned the reputation of it creating high paying
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  Speaker 1: jobs at the district for people that fail as principals
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  Speaker 1: or assistant principles in the school system. It's where bad
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  Speaker 1: administrators go to be paid very well. In your experience,
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  Speaker 1: if you look at the structure of the county stasi
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  Speaker 1: is it are we top heavy. Do we have more
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  Speaker 1: administrative people at the district level than most districts are size.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, Unfortunately that is the case, and I called it
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  Speaker 2: out at the school board meeting. Well. I pointed out
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  Speaker 2: at Saint Lucy County School District, for example, Saint Lucy
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  Speaker 2: County has forty nine thousand plus students. Leon County has
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  Speaker 2: about twenty thousand less students. Yet Saint Lucy County has
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  Speaker 2: only two hundred and eight administrators and executive staff, but
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  Speaker 2: Leon County has more at two hundred and seventeen. It
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  Speaker 2: leaves me scratching my head thinking why have they prioritized
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  Speaker 2: administration and executive staff over the teachers. And when you
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  Speaker 2: look at some of these pay raises for those individuals,
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  Speaker 2: you're seeing numbers increasing of over ten thousand dollars and
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  Speaker 2: that's a you know, that's significantly more than what they're
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  Speaker 2: offering the teachers who are in the trenches impacting these
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  Speaker 2: students' lives. I want to make sure I make something
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  Speaker 2: clear because I'm often attacked as if I was not
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  Speaker 2: a kid who grew up with a single mom three kids,
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  Speaker 2: struggling to make ends meet. My entire life, I went
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  Speaker 2: through the public education system, and I often rave about
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  Speaker 2: the great teachers that had a significant impact on my life,
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  Speaker 2: both inside the classroom and outside, whether it was basketball,
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  Speaker 2: whether it was the NATH team. I mean, we have
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  Speaker 2: great teachers who are doing great work. They deserve to pay.
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  Speaker 2: I also want to say the president of the Leon
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  Speaker 2: County Teachers Association, who's a supposed advocate for these teachers.
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  Speaker 2: Scott Maser also has quite an insulated salary, making double
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  Speaker 2: what a starting teacher makes, with a total compensation package
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  Speaker 2: exceeding one hundred thousand dollars. And so the Leon County
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  Speaker 2: District leadership and school board members wonder why teachers are
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  Speaker 2: frustrated and are debating whether to leave the county. I
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  Speaker 2: can tell you this is a big reason why.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I mean, what's going on with the leadership of
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  Speaker 1: the union locally is no different than what happens in
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  Speaker 1: unions all across the country. Florida FEA is top heavy,
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  Speaker 1: with a lot of people making a lot of money.
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  Speaker 1: And of course Scott Maser, in his comments to the
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  Speaker 1: local newspaper, was very dismissive of that, calling it a distraction. No,
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  Speaker 1: it's very significant that he gets paid more than double
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  Speaker 1: what the rank and file teachers are making in this county.
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  Speaker 1: But this also dovetails into the discussion on consolidation. To
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  Speaker 1: my knowledge, only one school board member, Alvis Smith, has
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  Speaker 1: been raising the issue of the need to consolidate schools.
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  Speaker 1: What's happening or not happening in Leon County that is
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  Speaker 1: happening in other parts of the state. I'm under the
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  Speaker 1: impression that, for example, Duval County has been consolidating like
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  Speaker 1: crazy and shutting down schools and opening schools where people
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  Speaker 1: are moving.
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  Speaker 2: That's exactly right. Look, many schools in the Leon County
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  Speaker 2: School District are operating at half capacity, yet district leaders
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  Speaker 2: refuse to consolidate or manage resources efficiently. They choose instead
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  Speaker 2: to complain about budget issues instead of actually solving the problem.
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  Speaker 2: And I called them out at the school board meeting.
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  Speaker 2: Like you said, We've seen not just Duval, but several
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  Speaker 2: other school districts who are choosing to close and consolidate
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  Speaker 2: schools in order to have more efficient operations. Broward has
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  Speaker 2: done it. Heck, our neighbors just next door, Wakulla, have
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  Speaker 2: even done some consolidations and have developed our implemented plans
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  Speaker 2: for consolidation. So I think with the right leadership in place,
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  Speaker 2: Leon Counties could certainly follow their lead, but that's just it.
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  Speaker 2: I was at an announcement earlier this week with President
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  Speaker 2: Richard Corkran at New College and Governor DeSantis championing the
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: Civics and Debate initiative, and we were celebrating how many
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  Speaker 2: students have participated. Originally it was only eleven school districts.
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  Speaker 2: Now all sixty seven school district with over three hundred
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  Speaker 2: and thirty teams are participating. The hundreds of hundreds of
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  Speaker 2: kids are doing this. Why because of great leadership? We
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: don't have that here in Leon County.
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  Speaker 1: With the Commission of Education for Florida, Anastasio Komutzas, and
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  Speaker 1: he goes by Stassi. Is that your preference? That I mean?
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  Speaker 1: Is it just simpler for people to just say Stassy?
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  Speaker 2: It's so much easier because my full name is a
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  Speaker 2: houseful so YESSI.
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  Speaker 1: Were we were talking in the break and I've and
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  Speaker 1: for listeners that may not be aware, I talked about it.
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  Speaker 1: Over the last couple of days. There was a video
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  Speaker 1: of an interview with Darryl Jones, school board member who
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  Speaker 1: posted some hateful, defamatory comments about Charlie Kirk that were
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: in fact wrong, But in that interview he stated, when
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: talking about his career path that he did not like children.
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  Speaker 1: He didn't like kids was the exact quote, and that
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  Speaker 1: video mysteriously got pulled down yesterday, which I found fascinating.
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  Speaker 1: But Stasi, the thing that concerns me is, you know, first,
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  Speaker 1: I'd love to know when the epiphany happened. Suddenly he's
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  Speaker 1: running for the school board and this was right when
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  Speaker 1: he was announcing his run and now he's it's the
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  Speaker 1: chair of the Children's Services counsel. But to my knowledge,
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  Speaker 1: doesn't like kids, and it just seems that he doesn't
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  Speaker 1: want to talk about this issue with what he posted.
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  Speaker 1: What are people to do because I'm guessing this doesn't
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  Speaker 1: cross the line since he took the post down, but
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  Speaker 1: he's not apologized of any action that the governor can
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  Speaker 1: take against him in removing him from the board. So
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  Speaker 1: what do you think the takeaway is here?
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  Speaker 2: I think people need to pay attention. That's why I
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  Speaker 2: showed up to the school board meeting. And we need
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  Speaker 2: to continue to raise awareness about the folks who are
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  Speaker 2: in charge of making decisions that impact the health, safety
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  Speaker 2: and welfare of our students. That comment and the comment
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  Speaker 2: related to Charlie Kirk are just totally unacceptable for anyone
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  Speaker 2: who's entrusted with that responsibility. I can tell you at
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  Speaker 2: the Florida Department of Education, I say it all the time.
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  Speaker 2: We believe children are a gift from God and we're
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  Speaker 2: going to do everything we can to maintain their innocence.
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  Speaker 2: And so you've got two totally different views of children
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  Speaker 2: in the education when you just suppose how we view
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: it at the Department of Education thanks to the leadership
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  Speaker 2: of Governor DeSantis and how Daryl Jones used children. But
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: with his comment, I was really troubled. He almost tried
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  Speaker 2: I mean, he tried calling me out about my memo
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  Speaker 2: that was reminding educators not to glorify, condone, or excuse
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  Speaker 2: school violence in schools. I didn't really understand what he
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: found problematic with that, but it's clear to me that
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  Speaker 2: he's choosing partisan stunts over leadership, and he's trying to
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  Speaker 2: use tragedy to divide the community and distract from education,
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  Speaker 2: and as a result, he's alienating a segment of the community.
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  Speaker 2: And we're calling it out.
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  Speaker 1: Well, and that's the thing, instead of at least owning
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  Speaker 1: it right. He takes it down, but doesn't distance himself
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  Speaker 1: from it, doesn't apologize for it, just takes it down,
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  Speaker 1: tells the local paper, I got bigger fish to fry.
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  Speaker 1: It's in the rear view mirror for me. I think
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  Speaker 1: the concern is, if I'm not mistaken, Leon County Schools
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  Speaker 1: is lost ten to twelve, maybe fourteen percent of its
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: students in the last few years. Parents are taking their
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  Speaker 1: kids out, whether they're homeschooling them, private school and them
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  Speaker 1: charter schooling them, virtual schooling, they're getting out of the
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: local school system. And I guess inevitably that's what they'll
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: be faced with, is less revenue to work with because
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: parents are going to vote with pulling their kids out
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  Speaker 1: of school.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, And I made mention of that when I posted
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  Speaker 2: about the video, saying, how do you think a conservative
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  Speaker 2: parent in Leon County Schools will feel hearing your comments
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: and your inability to at least walk back those comments,
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  Speaker 2: apologize for those comments, recognize your flawed, not perfect, and
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: made a mistake. And how do you think that parent
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  Speaker 2: is going to take that when they're advocating for their
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  Speaker 2: child to receive the appropriate services but feel as though
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  Speaker 2: they're being discriminated against on the basis of their political views.
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  Speaker 2: What was even more shocking was when I was at
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  Speaker 2: the meeting and I mentioned that an innocent man was
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  Speaker 2: assassinated on a school campus. The crowd went wild and
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: they interrupted me from speaking. What did that show me?
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  Speaker 2: They showed. That showed that they believe Charlie Kirk deserved it,
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  Speaker 2: that he wasn't innocent, and that as a result of
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  Speaker 2: his political views, the school violence was justified. That's wrong.
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  Speaker 2: We're never going to stand idly by when folks are
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: advocating for that, especially those who are entrusted with the health,
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: safety and welfare of our students, whether it's teachers, administrators,
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: or school board members.
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  Speaker 1: Commissioner, awesome visit, Thanks for the time, and importantly, thank
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  Speaker 1: you for showing up at the school board meeting and
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: reminding them that not only are you the Commissioner of Education,
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: but you're a resident of this community and it matters
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  Speaker 1: on behalf of the rest of us.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you very much, absolutely, thank you, and God bless.
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: Commissioner of Education for the Sunshine State, Anastasios Kimutsus, our
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: guest here in the Morning Show with Preston Scott