February 12, 2021 — Hillsborough County, FL — Ralph Arza, representing the Florida Charter School Alliance, presented at district meetings in Hillsborough and Miami Dade counties this week. The FCSA was the only organization in the state present at the meetings and prepared to defend our members and all Florida charter schools.
When a Hillsborough board member incorrectly stated that the district lost millions because of charter schools, Arza spoke up to clarify and correct that statement.
Charter schools “provide a service to this county,” explained Arza at the Hillsborough Charter School Workshop. “Charter schools have also saved the school board money…it would cost the district $22,000 per student station to serve the more than 32,000 students currently enrolled in a public charter school. That’s more than $700 million” worth of student stations built by charter operators. The charter school movement in Florida is 329,000 students strong. If Florida’s charter schools were a district, they would be the second-largest district in the state — just behind Miami Dade County Public Schools (356,000 students).
The narrative that charter schools cause district financial problems is false and an unfair assumption. Several studies, including a recent analysis from The Fordham Institute, have found that charter school expansion improves student outcomes at nearby district schools—or, at worst, does no harm. Fordham recently released a study of the financial impact charter schools have on districts and found that “districts’ instructional spending per pupil remained neutral to positive in all twenty-one states, even in the face of charter expansion.” Read the Fordham report, Robbers or Victims? Charter Schools and District Finances here.
School board members are charged with representing all public schools and the students within their boundaries — that includes public charter schools. In Florida, more than 329,000 students are enrolled in charter schools. If Florida charter schools were a district, it would be the second-largest school district in the state, just behind Miami Dade County Public SChools which serves 356,000 students.