Last Friday, Florida’s State Board of Education voted to approve Republican Senator Manny Diaz, Jr. the state’s new education commissioner. Diaz makes history as Florida’s first Hispanic education commissioner.
He is also, on Day One, the most important and closely watched state education chief in the country. His new boss, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, has his eye on the White House in 2024; the Governor’s political appeal and personal brand rests heavily on education, particularly a series of controversial measures exerting the state’s authority over controversial curriculum content. It will fall to Diaz to communicate, execute, and enforce these polarizing initiatives. His success or failure may therefore exert an outsize effect of DeSantis’ national reputation and political fortunes.
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