Jonathan Butcher of The Heritage Foundation says district officials continue to look for ways to prevent charter schools from accessing the state's empty public buildings.
He says parents are indicating they are increasingly unhappy with what assigned schools offer, as hundreds of students are on waiting lists for private and public charter schools. But they cannot find a place to go.
"Reports find that private schools and charter schools in the Palm Beach area, in Orlando, and elsewhere in the state have significant waiting lists," he relays. "I think that school officials should be chided, if not prohibited, from preventing charter schools and even private schools from gaining access to these empty facilities."
Grandview Prep reports that the number of applications to private schools in the area increased by almost 50% between 2017-2018 and 2022-2023. While there is high demand for private schools and public charter schools in Florida, traditional school districts are reporting thousands of open seats.
Butcher points out that under state law, public charter schools that operate in areas with low-performing traditional schools can be designated as "schools of hope" and access empty public school buildings. But instead of giving parents and children more education options, school board members are looking for ways to prevent schools of hope from accessing their buildings.
He says taxpayers, who are footing the bill for the mismanagement, should not let this continue.
"Taxpayers wind up paying for these buildings, and sometimes these buildings attract crime; they can be objects of vandalism," he explains. "There really is no good reason for districts to be able to hold on to empty or even almost-empty public school buildings."
He advises policymakers in Florida to take note of the evidence from other states and prevent school district administrators from hoarding empty school buildings.
