Florida board of education signs off on a charter school expansion

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s board of education approved a major expansion of charter schools on Wednesday, paving the way for privately run schools to co-locate inside traditional public schools. This move is the latest effort by Florida officials to expand school choice in a state long viewed as a national model for conservative education policy.

The decision comes amid the challenges faced by some public schools, which are closing their doors due to declining enrollments, aging facilities, and ongoing post-pandemic student struggles.

The new regulations approved by the state board build upon a bill signed into law earlier this year by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. The bill allows operators to open more “schools of hope”—charter schools intended to serve students from persistently low-performing schools.

“We have operators that want to come in and give the best education to those who are in schools that haven’t been getting the greatest education,” Republican state Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka said while defending her bill on the House floor earlier this year. “Let’s give them the opportunity.”

Created in 2017, the schools of hope program encourages more publicly funded, privately run schools to open in areas where traditional public schools have been failing for years. The program provides students and families in those neighborhoods an alternative to struggling schools.

This year’s law loosens restrictions on where schools of hope can operate. They are now allowed to set up inside the facilities of public schools—even high-performing ones—if the campus has underused or vacant spaces.

Under the board’s new regulations, public school districts are required to provide charter schools with the same facility-related services that they offer their own campuses. This includes custodial work, maintenance, school safety, food service, nursing, and student transportation without limitation.

Additionally, school districts must allow schools of hope to use all or part of an educational facility at no cost, including classrooms and administrative offices. Common areas such as cafeterias, gymnasiums, recreation areas, parking lots, storage spaces, and auditoriums must be shared proportionately based on total full-time equivalent student enrollment.

Public school advocates urged the board to reject the proposal during Wednesday’s meeting. India Miller, an advocate for public schools, criticized the schools of hope program, saying it is designed to be parasitic to public schools.

“To me, it would be like asking Home Depot to give Lowes space in their store and pay all of their infrastructure costs. It just does not make sense to me,” Miller said.

Board members, who are appointed by Gov. DeSantis, defended the new rules and dismissed concerns that the charter expansion could divert crucial funding away from traditional public schools.

“Schools of hope wouldn’t be necessary if our public school system had done its job along the way,” said board Vice Chair Esther Byrd.

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Associated Press writer Kimberlee Kruesi contributed reporting from Providence, Rhode Island.

Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
https://ktar.com/national-news/florida-board-of-education-signs-off-on-a-charter-school-expansion/5754119/