As charter schools race to occupy public school facilities thanks to the expansion of Florida’s Schools of Hope law, Miami-Dade County Public Schools could find itself sharing close to 90 of its own facilities with Schools of Hope operators.
According to an internal memo from the Miami-Dade superintendent shared with the Miami Herald, Miami-Dade has received 90 notices of intent from Schools of Hope operators— 81 from Mater Academy, four from KIPP, and five from Success Academy. Florida’s expanded Schools of Hope law, passed at the very end of the legislative session, dramatically increases the power of certain charter school operators to enter, and in some cases take over, space on public school campuses.
Statewide, at least 690 notices of intent were submitted across 22 school districts, according to Brian Moore, general counsel for the Florida Association of District School Superintendents. The bulk of the notices were sent in the early hours of Nov. 11, Veterans Day, the first day charter school operators were legally eligible to submit…