Could a Republican lawmaker be Miami-Dade’s next school superintendent?
Miami Herald | By Douglas Hanks |
Will a Republican member of the Florida House be Miami-Dade County’s next schools chief?
With a year to go before the current superintendent retires, there’s already a behind-the-scenes effort to position Rep. Alex Rizo, a former charter-school principal and public-school administrator, as a candidate for the job, Rizo confirmed Friday night.
“I’m getting four or five calls a day about it,” Rizo told the Miami Herald. “I’m flattered people would even consider me for such an incredible position.”
Rizo stopped short of saying he’s planning to pursue the position once Superintendent Jose Dotres retires when his contract ends early next year. But the Hialeah lawmaker — who chairs an education subcommittee, owns a charter-school consulting firm and worked as an assistant principal in the county school system — made clear he’s interested.
“No serious discussions have gone on” about the superintendent job, he said. “If it would turn serious, I would certainly listen. I feel it is within the realm of public service to do something like that. … I am a public servant. I love what I do.”
The push for Rizo to be considered to run one of the country’s largest school systems comes after a string of Republican office-holders landed top education jobs under Gov. Ron DeSantis and the GOP-controlled Legislature.
Last year, Jeanette Nuñez, then the lieutenant governor, was named president of Florida International University. Manny Diaz Jr., a state senator from Miami-Dade before DeSantis named him education secretary, got the top job this month at the University of West Florida, and a former House speaker, Richard Corcoran, took over the New College of Florida in 2023.
It’s not clear how much momentum there is behind Rizo as a superintendent candidate, but Tallahassee insiders have been taking about the Rizo push in recent weeks. It’s also not known when the county’s elected School Board would even consider the steps needed to pick a successor for Dotres, a veteran public-schools administrator who was named superintendent in 2022.
Dotres is enrolled in a mandatory retirement program that requires him to leave his post when his contract expires in February 2027.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Jose Dotres has another year left on his contract before a retirement date in early 2027.
A Rizo friend on the School Board, Roberto Alonso, recently filed legislation to establish hiring criteria for the next superintendent. In an interview Friday, Alonso praised Dotres and said it’s time for the board to start considering how someone can build on the current superintendent’s success.
Alonso didn’t endorse Rizo but said the lawmaker is on a broader list of people being talked about as potential successors to Dotres. Those include Anastasios “Stasi” Kamoutsas, Florida’s education secretary and a Miami-Dade schools graduate, and Jacob Oliva, who runs the Arkansas Department of Education after getting his start in Florida’s schools system.
“Is Rizo on the short list? Absolutely,” Alonso said. “As are other candidates.”
School Board member Luisa Santos said her priority is to make sure the board casts a broad net for the best candidates possible to consider for the top job.
“I want to ensure we have a professional inclusive search that would lead us to the strongest candidate,” she said. “I’m looking for a leader who understands complex operations, that is a seasoned executive and who understands our community.”
Rizo got his start as a high school biology teacher, and told the Herald he liked it so much he dropped plans for medical school in order to keep teaching. He was a vice principal in a public school and a principal of a charter school before working at a private company providing tutoring and after-school education. He’s chair of the House Student Academic Success sub-committee
“I have served on education committees since Day One,” the three-term House member said. “I think Dade County schools has no challenger when it comes to excellence. … I think the school system’s best days are ahead of it. I really do. Given the right leadership.”
