Hundreds of letters, targeting even more schools, threaten public education under Schools of Hope expansion
Florida – Charter School operators have so far sent at least 690 letters of intent to school districts across the state, staking their claim to space in public schools loosely defined as “under-utilized” by the state.
The preliminary total includes letters sent to 22 school districts, fewer than half that exist in Florida. That means the number will grow as more districts report letters they received. The Florida Policy Institute, a member of the Florida Coalition for Thriving Public Schools, has filed public records requests in all 67 school districts for letters, which were legally able to be delivered last week.
School districts reporting receiving letters so far include Brevard, Broward, Collier, Duval, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Lee, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, St. Lucie, St. Johns, Sarasota, Seminole, Sumter and Volusia counties.
Of all the data received so far, South Florida has received the most, with at least 224 between Broward and Miami-Dade counties. That number is almost certain to grow, and doesn’t include dozens of letters Miami-Dade received that were not considered valid by the school district because they were not from currently authorized charter operators. Miami-Dade received at least 180 letters, which School Superintendent Dr. Jose Dotres in a letter to the School Board last week said includes 90 that are valid. The difference comes from Bridge Prep Academy, which is not a designated School of Hope operator.
Said Mina Hosseini, Executive Director of P.S. 305: “Miami is being reshaped before our eyes. As private operators moved to claim thousands of seats in our public schools — including more than 2,300 at my alma mater, Miami Killian — it signals a future where our neighborhoods are defined less by shared institutions and more by private interests. Miami-Dade’s school board stewards billions of dollars in community assets – built, maintained, and trusted by generations of families. If public schools are hollowed out, we don’t just lose classrooms — we lose the common ground that makes Miami Miami. Now is the time to show up to protect what binds us. Talk to your neighbors. Attend school board meetings. Contact your state representatives. Ask the questions others hope you won’t. Our schools, our communities, and our future depend on our willingness to defend them – together. ”
Other counties receiving large batches of letters of intent include Brevard (35), Duval (83), Hillsborough (45), Orange (64), Palm Beach (71), Pinellas (56), and Polk (36). Those numbers include Bridge Prep, which, again, is not yet an approved operator.
Schools impacted — which under Florida statute’s broad language could be any school— face an unfunded mandate from the state that allows privately-run charter school operators to occupy space within their schools at no cost to the charter operator. With schools already squeezed by funding that has not kept pace with inflation, this represents yet another attack on public education through the systemic defunding of the classrooms most of our state’s children rely on.
Letters of intent reviewed so far show some schools facing occupation of space for hundreds, in some cases thousands of students.
For example, a letter sent regarding Miami Killian Senior High School seeks to claim 2,330 seats.
At Miami Lakes Educational Center, charter school operators have expressed preliminary intent to occupy 2,090 seats.
And it’s not just in South Florida. King High School in Hillsborough County faces occupation of nearly 1,200 seats. In neighboring Pinellas County, Boca Ciega High School received letters of intent preliminarily claiming more than 1,300 seats.
The letters span elementary, middle, high school and public vocational programs throughout the state.
“The expanded Schools of Hope program forces public school students to foot the bill for co-location, invites charters to run on conflicting bell schedules that can disrupt learning, and has sparked chaos by letting operators lay claim to entire clusters of schools without any real plan or accountability — all while sidestepping many of the safety protocols and standards our public schools are required to follow,” said Raegan Miller, a Pinellas County public school parent and director for the Florida Freedom to Read Project.
“These so-called nonprofit charters rely on for-profit management companies, and the entire expansion was pushed by billionaire donors whose money has given them outsized political power over the voices of public school parents like us,” she added.
At issue is language that was quietly added into the 2025-26 state budget during the 2025 Legislative Session in SB 2500 allowing “Hope operators” under the Schools of Hope program to co-locate in any district that contains a state-designated “opportunity zone.” That opens the program to every single school district in Florida and allows private operator occupation of any school broadly dubbed “underutilized” without having to reimburse school districts for operational expenses, like maintenance and custodial costs, to utilize the space.
Simply put, the law allows for-profit charter operators to locate their business rent-free in publicly funded schools.
