Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas said teachers ’must ensure their conduct does not undermine the trust of the students and families they serve.’
Florida’s Department of Education announced on Sept. 11 that it will look into public school teachers who, on social media, celebrated or justified the assassination of Turning Point USA CEO and founder Charlie Kirk.
Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas sent a letter to school district superintendents telling them that he would be investigating after it was brought to his attention that some educators had posted “despicable comments on social media regarding the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk.”
“These few are not a reflection of the great, high-quality teachers who make up the vast majority of Florida’s educators,” he wrote.
“Nevertheless, I will be conducting an investigation of every educator who engages in this vile, sanctionable behavior.”
Florida’s Department of Education told The Epoch Times in an email that the commissioner was prepared to use all of his power to hold educators responsible if the investigation proves they should not be in a classroom based on their behavior.
That power includes revoking their educator certificate.
“Although educators have First Amendment rights, these rights do not extend without limit into their professional duties,” Kamoutsas said.
“An educator’s personal views that are made public may undermine the trust of the students and families that they serve.”
The commissioner cited Rule 6A-10.081 of the Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.), titled “Principles of Professional Conduct for the Education Profession in Florida,” which holds the state’s certified educators to a set of ethical guidelines.
Kamoutsas said that a teacher could violate that rule if his or her conduct “causes a student or his or her family to feel unwelcome or unwilling to participate in the learning environment.”
He also cited sections of two Florida statutes that authorized the commissioner to discipline and sanction the certificate of an educator who “upon investigation, has been found guilty of personal conduct that seriously reduces that person’s effectiveness as an employee of the district school board.”
“Teachers are held to a higher standard as public servants and must ensure their conduct does not undermine the trust of the students and families they serve,” the commissioner said on X.
Teachers are held to a higher standard as public servants and must ensure their conduct does not undermine the trust of the students and families they serve. We will hold teachers who choose to make disgusting comments about the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk accountable.… pic.twitter.com/KzXCCGkvZm
— Anastasios Kamoutsas (@StasiKamoutsas) September 11, 2025
By T.J. Muscaro
