SB 2015 (2025) Schools of “Nope”
Many of us have heard the rumors in regard to the Charter School provisions titled “Schools of Hope.” While the Schools of Hope as a program have been around for nearly a decade, in the current iteration, it has become less of an equal opportunity for student education and more a parasite who has found an unprotected host in every school district in the state we call home.
Originally submitted as an appropriations bill back in March of this year, no one could have ever imagined the momentum that quietly built up behind it and the nefarious intentions that revealed themselves just a few weeks ago.
A Bill Passed in the Shadows
Just a mere 20 minutes after the bill left the House, the Senate passed it with a nearly 90% yea vote, snuck in under the cover of a larger omnibus bill for appropriations on the 106th day of a 60-day legislative session.
With little observation and even far less debate, this bill carried with it two potential disease-laden provisions designed to rot Public Education from within its own institutions.
Provision 1: Redefining “Persistently Low-Performing School”
The first provision was the redefinition of what a “persistently low-performing school” is. The new definition expanded to ones that now included schools that had unused educational space due to lower enrollment.
This change can seem small on its face; however, let’s dive into the numbers:
In the 23–24 school year, under the original language, Florida had 51 schools that fell under the parameters of Schools of Hope.
With the new language passed just this June, that number is set to increase to 267.
That is a 400% increase in the schools that are within grasp of Charter Programs and Schools of Hope.
Yet this is only the least shocking of the insidious provisions slipped into this bill on the darkening day this June.
Provision 2: Forced Cohabitation
The more surreptitious provision is cohabitation — one that requires public schools with empty workspaces to offer those spaces to a School of Hope proprietor entirely at the expense of the local school district.
They are required by law to provide everything from nurses to food services.
These private institutions have finally attained the goal to privatize gains and subsidize losses with full legislative approval.
The Illusion of a Free Market
We in union leadership welcome and fully support an education free market because that kind of system leads to innovation and creation. However, this is no free market when those in Tallahassee put their finger on the scales.
The voucher system in our state was sold to parents as free choice in the way you educate your kids.
Don’t like your school or your failing district?
Worry not!
Send your kids to Charter where your oversight is neither asked for nor given…
According to the Florida Policy Institute, the 25–26 school year is projecting vouchers to total over $5 BILLION dollars in funding.
It is almost incomprehensible for us to realize exactly how much money that is because we have never actually seen it in person. When I tell this to my students, I try to use time as an analogy.
If every second were to represent $1, $5 billion is the equivalent of 153 years’ worth of seconds…
All that time that could be used to drastically change the lives of students in districts most in need.
The Statute Speaks for Itself
To truly underline the inequities created by those elected to protect our students and our future, look no further than the Schools of Hope statute 1002.333 6(f) that states:
“Schools operated by a hope operator shall be exempt from chapters 1000–1013 and all school board policies.”
It is right there where my Papa Sal would say:
“It’s time to go to the mattresses.”
Author
Zachary Wiegers
Treasurer, IRCEA
Office: 772-567-1066
