As parents of students at Wilkinson Elementary, Brookside Middle, and other Sarasota County schools, we are speaking out against the so-called “Schools of Hope” expansion and the chaos it has unleashed in our community. The idea that a Miami-based charter chain could claim space inside our high-performing public schools — schools that have helped Sarasota earn an A rating for more than two decades — is preposterous. It tramples on parents’ rights, undermines local control, and is already causing real harm to students, parents, and communities.

The problem began with language quietly added to this year’s state budget. The new provision allows charter “Hope operators” to co-locate in any district that contains a state-designated “opportunity zone” — which is every district in Florida — and

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