Director Of Civic Formation & Debate

select how often (in days) to receive an alert:

the state personnel system is an e-verify employer. For more information click on our e-verify website .

requisition no:885669

agency: department of education

working title: director of civic formation & debate

position title: director of civic formation & debate (ses)

salary range: $80,000 - $90,000

salary is based on candidate’s experience and qualifications

the florida education foundation seeks a visionary director to lead a statewide initiative for civic formation grounded in the western tradition, the great books, and the american founding. The role combines operational leadership of florida’s flagship speech-and-debate program, the florida civics and debate initiative (fdci), with a broader mandate: restore serious engagement with the texts, ideas, and virtues that formed constitutional self-government and western civilization.

this is not a conventional program-management job. It is a strategy, partnership, and intellectual-leadership position charged with making florida the national model for k-20 civic education that produces knowledgeable, articulate, and self-governing citizens.

this position is designed for someone who believes florida’s civics and debate work should not stop at tournaments and end-of-course exams. It should recover the deeper tradition those activities were meant to serve: the formation of free citizens through the best that has been thought and said in the west.

(note: the omission of specific job duties does not preclude management from assigning specific duties not listed herein if such duties are a logical assignment to the position.)

the florida department of education (fdoe) has an open position that is responsible for executing the following functions:

• direct statewide expansion and quality of fcdi speech, debate, and civics programming across all 67 districts.
• oversee tournaments, the great debate / national civics and debate championship, fcdi day at the capitol, coach training, teacher professional development, and student leadership pipelines.
• strengthen alignment between competitive debate and florida’s civics, u.s. History, and civic-literacy standards.
• grow participation, especially in underserved and rural schools, while raising the intellectual rigor of topics and judging.

• design and scale complementary initiatives that introduce students and teachers to the great books and core texts of the western tradition (greek and roman sources, biblical and medieval inheritance, english constitutionalism, the american founding documents, and subsequent debates that shaped the republic).
• partner with the florida department of education, hamilton school for classical and civic education (uf), new college of florida, and other classical/civic centers to build coherent k–12 to postsecondary pathways.
• develop teacher institutes, reading groups, curriculum modules, and summer intensives that treat debate as a living practice of the western rhetorical and civic tradition rather than a standalone activity.
• advise on alignment with state priorities including civic-literacy requirements, western-canon general-education expectations, fact u.s. History, and character/citizenship formation.

• serve as the foundation’s primary civic-education strategist and public voice on these issues, working closely with the commissioner of education, state board, legislative partners, and philanthropic supporters.
• cultivate major gifts, corporate and foundation partnerships, and public-private collaborations that sustain and grow the work.
• measure impact not only by participation numbers but…