For-profit charter schools could be occupying established public school campuses

Charter schools sharing space with established public schools might be a reality soon in South Florida.

Under the state’s new Schools of Hope law, approved, for-profit charter school operators can take over sections of a school that are underutilized, rent-free, if that school also meets one of several criteria for being deemed underperforming.

There are currently no F or even D-rated schools in Miami-Dade County Public Schools or in Broward County Public Schools. Both districts are also A-rated.

Three approved Hope school operators, KIPP, Success Academy, and Mater, have applied to occupy 90 schools in Miami-Dade and 29 in Broward. In addition, two other companies, Somerset and Bridge Academy, have applied to set up at nearly 200 more campuses.

“This is an unfunded mandate from the state,” said Jude Bruno, president of the Florida PTA, at a news conference this afternoon.

The law mandates that school districts not only allow the charter schools to exist without paying rent, taxpayers are also responsible for their security, custodial needs, and cafeteria expenses.

“Miami-Dade Public Schools are not broken, educators are not failing, our students are not experiments, what is broken is a system that continues to shift public dollars and public spaces to private hands,” said Dannielle Boyer of the United Teachers of Dade at the same news conference.

“If I were to ask anyone listening if I could move into their home rent free, you’d tell me I’m crazy, if I told you while living with you rent free I’m also gonna try to take your job, you’d tell me I’m crazy, but here we are today because co-location is not reform, it is a hostile takeover,” added Crystal Etienne, who leads a group called EduVoter Network.

Miami-Dade School Board member Roberto Alonso supports the concept.

“I think it’s a great benefit,” Alonso said in an interview with Telemundo 51. “The majority of the students in Miami-Dade County go to Miami-Dade County Public Schools, so what this does is it just continues to create opportunities for families, but it also challenges us as a district to continue improving our product.”

That echoes the state’s position that the Schools of Hope law will provide more choices for parents.

Broward County School Board member Rebecca Thompson disagrees, calling the law unfair and dangerous. 

“100%, I think this is the first wave of privatizing public education; I think at the end of the day it’s gonna limit students and their families because there’s not the same oversight with these companies that we have in public education,” Thompson said.

Critics like Thompson point out that the charter school operators would be getting the taxpayer funds, which follow each student, plus their expenses would be paid by the school districts, so they would be double-dipping into public funding.

There are also logistics issues to consider, such as who gets to use the gym or the cafeteria or the athletic field at any given time, all of which would have to be worked out.

School districts can reject applications from the charter school companies, but they have to have a reason that meets specifications in the law.

The activists at the news conference today are advocating for the passage of SB 424, which would repeal the Schools of Hope law.