In an interview with an NBC syndicate in West Palm Beach, Andrew Gillum argues against for-profit charter schools. Take a look.

There’s one major problem with Gillum’s position: There is no such thing as a for-profit charter school in Florida. Florida statute 1002.33(12)(i) states explicitly: “A charter school shall organize as, or be operated by, a nonprofit organization.” Charter schools have to be approved by the school board for the school district in which they are located. No charter school can be approved unless it is a nonprofit organization.

Gillum’s false narrative doesn’t end there. He claims for-profit charter schools take money from public schools and argues Florida should be investing in public schools. Let’s address two questions. Are charter schools private schools? Do they take money from public schools?

First, all charter schools in Florida are public schools. Florida Statute 1002.33(1) reads “Charter schools shall be part of the state’s program of public education. All charter schools in Florida are public schools.” Thus, all charter schools are public schools, and the growth of charter schools IS an investment in the public school system.

As to the second question, as charter schools are by definition public schools, they cannot, of course, take money from public schools. The truth is that charter schools receive less money per student than their government-run counterparts. Yet, according to a study done by the Florida Department of Education, charter schools yield better results. Moreover, charter schools are not insulated from the market. If a school fails to produce acceptable results, it’s enrollment will fall, and it will be forced to close. Whereas, a government-run public school can be inferior in perpetuity. The electorate in Florida should be enamored with charter schools. In charter schools, we get more for our money, and the charter schools have maximum incentive to achieve excellent results and generally do. Floridians see the value of alternatives to government-run, traditional public schools. This is no doubt why polls show an increase in support for school choice.

One common argument that opponents of school choice make is that because some charter schools hire management companies which are for profit, the charter school is for profit. This argument stems from a poorly reasoned Politifact article. This is a weak argument. There is no requirement that a non-profit business not contract with for profit companies, and it would be impossible to find a non-profit that doesn’t contract with for-profit companies. This does not make the non-profit a for-profit entity. The State of Florida doesn’t believe that. The Florida courts don’t believe that, and the IRS does not believe that.

As an attorney whose practice includes association law I can tell you that the many HOA and Condo associations in Florida are non-profit entities and virtually every one of them uses a for-profit management company. There is a good reason for this. Without a management company, volunteers serving on the boards of directors would be saddled with full-time jobs doing mundane accounting work. No one ever argued that these associations should lose their non-profit status for hiring a for-profit management company. This is because it’s a poor argument, and it’s equally poor when made in the context of charter schools.

What does this say about Andrew Gillum? Gillum hasn’t done his homework. He’s wrong about charter schools. He’s wrong about charter schools taking money from public schools, and in my opinion, Gillum is just plain wrong for Florida.

If you liked this article, subscribe below.

Name

Email*

