Welcome to the Freedom to Learn podcast. I'm your host, Ginny Gentles. This season, we're diving

into what it means to return education to states, communities, and families. And we're exploring

what becomes possible when education is freed from union dominance and federal control.

There's so much to celebrate during this National School Choice Week.

Governors across the country are opting into the federal scholarship tax credit.

If you hadn't heard, starting in 2027, taxpayers can receive dollar-for-dollar tax deductions

for contributions of up to $1,700 to approve scholarship granting organizations.

And students will be able to use the scholarships for a wide array of eligible K-12 education

expenses. Education freedom also continues to expand at the state level. Over 30 states have

education savings accounts or private school choice programs. An increasing number of these

programs offer universal eligibility.

Nearly four million children attend over 8,000 charter schools and 45 states, and homeschooling

participation is growing by nearly 5% every year and shows no sign of flowing down. The number one

state, when it comes to education freedom, though, is my home state of Florida.

I'm proud to share the Florida school choice story whenever I get the chance, and I'm thrilled

that Florida Commissioner of Education and Estacios Rastasi Kamutsis joins us today to talk about

Florida's K-12 education accomplishments. In 2019, Commissioner Kamutis joined the Florida Department

of Education's Office of General Counsel. He then served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor

Ron DeSantis before stepping into his current role. In today's conversation, we cover Florida's

school choice history, myths, and lessons learned, and the commissioner addresses

parental rights, the wide array of K-12 policies that are improving academic outcomes, and his priorities

for the upcoming year.

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