Editorial | ‘Schools of hope’ are also schools of profit – Orlando Sentinel

Charter school operators are bigfooting their way into public K-12 classrooms across Florida, with plans to grab taxpayer-funded buildings and other amenities. No one should be rolling out the welcome mat

A new law passed earlier this year greatly expands Florida’s Schools Of Hope program, which lets charter-school operators move into “underused” public-school classrooms while still qualifying as charter schools. That law took effect on July 31, and the march is on: Miami-based Mater Academy has put Broward County on notice that it plans on moving into 27 public school campuses. In Orange County, another provider has set its sights on a region in the northwest corner of the county. In its application, it described plans to move onto the campuses of two as-yet-unidentified schools, an