Will education chief work for schools or DeSantis?

Manny Diaz doesn’t become Florida’s next education commissioner until June 1, but he’s already talking about the biggest problem facing the state’s public schools.

Spoiler alert: It’s not what Gov. Ron DeSantis calls “sexualization” of young students. It’s the teacher shortage. Estimates are that traditional public schools will have about 9,000 vacancies statewide this fall.

“I hate to use such a simplistic term,” Diaz told an interviewer, “but how do you make teaching cool again?”

You could start by picking someone else to be education commissioner.

Though Diaz spent the early part of his career in traditional public schools, for the last decade he has been the charter school industry’s champion in Tallahassee. Diaz is part of that industry, which hasn’t troubled him or his Republican colleagues.

Then this year Diaz sponsored the Senate version of the governor’s “Stop W.O.K.E” bill. Parents can sue school districts if they believe teachers are violating new rules on how to discuss race. The teachers union opposed the bill.

Diaz also sponsored legislation that he and DeSantis claimed would end high-stakes testing. In fact, it doesn’t. Teachers backed the bill until they realized it amounted to a bait-and-switch.

So the problem for Diaz in trying to make teaching “cool” is that his policies — which are those of his party — have done much to make teaching uncool.

Even after the pandemic cut enrollment, traditional public schools educate 87% of students in the state system compared to 13% for charter schools, which are public schools that operate under private management.

Republicans in Tallahassee favor charter schools. They favor voucher schools whose students are among the roughly 400,000 who attend private schools.

Before Diaz, DeSantis chose Richard Corcoran. The former House speaker had no relevant experience, but his wife founded a charter school.

As speaker Corcoran allowed charter schools to get public money for construction. When Florida first sanctioned charter schools in 1996, operators said they wouldn’t need such money.

Now comes Diaz, who has voted for every bill that public school teachers, administrators and school board members have opposed. Based on early analysis none of these odious bills will apply to charter schools. If so, their teachers will get a pass. Somehow, only those campuses are free from the indoctrination Republicans see in state-run schools.

Diaz, DeSantis and other Republicans have defended their records by citing money in the last two budgets for teacher raises and bonuses. But Tallahassee deserves only faint praise.

Teachers are getting those raises only because of money in congressional COVID-19 aid packages. No Republicans voted for the one that passed last March.

In addition, Florida remains among the lowest-ranking states for teacher pay. Most school districts, including in Broward and Palm Beach, regularly must ask voters for local tax revenue to help pay teachers.

Teaching, Diaz said, “is a profession a lot of women went into, and they were respected for the work they were doing. And it’s become — you’re right, there are critics.”

Obviously there’s no way to disband the GOP thought police that gives traditional public school teachers less respect and less reason to stay in the profession. Republicans worsen that disrespect with spite. They withheld $200 million from districts that approved mask mandates against the governor’s legally dubious dictate.

If Diaz is sincere about wanting to support teachers, however, here are some suggestions:

■ Don’t indulge every Moms For Liberty reactionary who claims that a teacher is trampling on parents’ rights. A Leon County couple’s lawsuit alleged that school personnel had discussed their child’s gender dysphoria without their permission. As the Tallahassee Democrat reported, however, the mother had emailed that the child should “take the lead.”

■ Show up at a traditional public school — often. DeSantis rarely visits one. He has signed some of those controversial bills at schools the bills don’t affect.

■ Acknowledge that the Parental Rights in Education bill and others are aimed more at Republican voters than average parents. Polls consistently show that large majorities of parents like their children’s school and their teachers.

Diaz called traditional public schools “incredibly important.” It would be way cool if Florida started treating them that way.