What The Hell Is Gross Immorality?
an unholy alliance between Manny Diaz and Eric Hall spells trouble for vulnerable youth
In 2016, the North Carolina legislature decided to bring the lowest performing schools under one umbrella. They called it the Innovative School District and Eric Hall, Ed.D, was named the District’s first superintendent. He failed, dramatically, in his mission. By 2019, Mr. Hall was gone and by 2021, the North Carolina legislature had grown tired of paying for the experiment.
Hall landed on his feet. In Florida he found a kindred spirit in then-Commissioner of Education, Richard Corcoran. So much so, Corcoran invented a “Special Chancellor” position for Hall. Then, in 2021, when Corcoran was distracted by his failed dream of replacing John Thrasher as Florida State University’s President, Corcoran decided to call Hall the “Senior Chancellor” and ordered all the, presumably less “special” chancellors to report to the new Senior Chancellor. You can imagine how that turned out.
Once again, Hall landed on his feet when just a few months later, DeSantis appointed him to the top job at the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. Immediately, questions arose about Hall’s dissertation proclaiming the merits of Critical Race Theory and cautioning against “white privilege.” He, of course, “pivoted.” Questions about Hall’s favorite book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Brazilian Marxist, Paulo Freire, went unanswered.
But, apparently, failing in North Carolina wasn’t enough to convince Hall that his hypothesis was bad.
“In an experiment, a hypothesis is tested. In the case of the Innovative School District (ISD), the hypothesis was that some of the state’s lowest-performing schools could be improved if they were grouped into one district, given charter school-like flexibility, and turned over to the management of alternative operators.”
Alex Granados, EdNC
He’s moved on to something much more dangerous. The Florida Scholars Academy.
If it sounds familiar, that’s because more than a decade ago Senator Steve Wise, Ph.D, who was not only uber conservative but also considered the go-to guy for all things education in the Florida Senate, pushed hard to move education to incarcerated students out of the Department of Juvenile Justice and into the Department of Education.
As with most things in Florida, the juvenile justice system is heavily privatized. Most incarceration services, from housing to social work, are contracted out. That wasn’t true of education. The local school district were responsible for educating incarcerated students residing in a facility in their county. There were problems, for sure, with that situation and, yes, often incarcerated students were receiving substandard educational services.
In response Eric Hall did what he tried to do in North Carolina, he pushed to consolidate the education of incarcerated students under one umbrella. This time, the Department of Juvenile Justice. Hall argued that educating students who read, on average, at the 4th-grade reading level could be better handled by the Department of Juvenile Justice than by local education officials. The legislature agreed and on March 27, 2023, Governor Ron DeSantis signed the bill into law.
Eric Hall tapped former Classical Liberal charter school Principal, Adrienne Campbell as his Deputy to spearhead Florida Scholars Academy and he set about interviewing for the Presidency of Pasco-Hernando State College. He didn’t get that job so he returned to the Department to resume his duties.
Ten Thousand Three Hundred and Seven …
During 2021-22, there were forty-four (44) residential facilities housing 2,338 youth in twenty-five (25) different school districts. Florida Scholars Academy authorizes the Department to contract with one education entity to provide services to every student in every location. One. One entity would receive $12 million in recurring general revenue during year one and $24.1 million thereafter. That is $10,307.95 per student.
Enter Manny Diaz, Commissioner, Florida Department of Education
The ever so eager Eric Hall wanted his new pet project to be up and running by August 2024. Additionally, at the time, Hall was adamant that the educational services to students must take place in person. He argued that this “population” would not do well with virtual instruction. It is a philosophy he maintains across the majority of other services including therapy and healthcare.
Unfortunately, as one potential education provider put it “that’s not enough runway.” So, naturally, when Hall issued a Request for Information (RFI), major educational institutions that could provide quality education did not want to be set-up for failure and, just like in North Carolina, no one was interested in what Eric Hall was selling.
But Manny Diaz had a solution. The Florida Virtual School (FLVS).
By the Florida Department of Education’s (FLDOE) own assessment, FLVS was … uhm, troubled. In fact, during a November 2019 presentation to the Florida Board of Education, FLDOE told the Board that FLVS “was plagued in recent years with recurring leadership crises.” The presentation slides told a story of breached data, “leadership instability; questionable hiring practices; perceptions of ‘self-dealing’ behaviors; inappropriate work climate; improper purchasing and contracting; employees conducting work on FLVS’ time unrelated to FLVS; and billing FLVS for travel unrelated to FLVS.”
As a result, no one wanted to sit on the FLVS Board of Directors and, finally, the legislature stepped in to decide the best next step for the 200,000 students enrolled in FLVS. In the end, FLDOE took over FLVS.
FLVS is, as its name indicates, an on-line virtual school. Despite his insistence on in-person instruction, Eric Hall apparently acquiesced. In August of 2023, FLVS was announced as the sole education provider for incarcerated youth in Florida. And that is how the DeSantis Administration got away with not competitively bidding a $24.1 million dollar contract.
But Manny Wasn’t Done
Fresh off a $24.1 million dollar windfall for the Florida Department of Education via the Florida Virtual School, Commissioner Diaz set about staffing up. He, allegedly, hand picked an old friend.
In a previous life, Julian Cazanas was the Assistant Principal at Miami Lakes Middle School, which is the feeder school to Miami Lakes High School where Manny Diaz was the Assistant Principal and where, like Cazanas, Diaz was accused of inappropriate behavior.
Meet Julian Cazanas who, in addition to being tapped as the first superintendent for the Florida Scholars Academy, also agreed to a settlement with the Florida Department of Education after being charged with “gross immorality” for physically assaulting a student.
Begging the question of both Eric Hall and Manny Diaz -