Florida education commissioner sends sharp message on parent rights
Tampa Bay Times | Jeffrey S. Solochek | July 15, 2025
Anastasios Kamoutsas sent a clear message on his first day as Florida’s new education commissioner: He’s not playing games when it comes to enforcing parental rights in education and teacher rights in the classroom.
Kamoutsas sent wrote a five-page memo to superintendents, in which he detailed the mandates that have been on the books since 2021. He sent a separate three-page memo to principals reminding them that teachers’ rights to control their classrooms “are not optional practices.”
“As one of my first acts as Commissioner, I wanted to make it known that in Florida, if you violate the rights of parents and teachers, I will be knocking on your door,” Kamoutsas wrote on X.
The former DeSantis deputy chief of staff, who’s also a lawyer, further instructed schools to send a letter from him to all parents. In it, he advised parents of their rights in state law, bullet point by bullet point over three pages, and included links to state offices created to enforce those rights.
“These rights aren’t just written into law,” Kamoutsas wrote. “They’re rooted in the shared belief that families must be central to every meaningful decision in a child’s learning and development.”
The commissioner’s stance quickly gained attention on social media. Some commenters cheered his position. Others questioned whether all parents would have the same level of support, even if they assert rights counter to the administration’s goals.
The State Board of Education appointed Kamoutsas to replace Manny Diaz Jr., who took over as interim president of the University of West Florida this week, Associated Press reports. Kamoutsas will make his first commissioner’s report to the State Board when it meets Wednesday.
