Miami Dade College Approves Creation Of Six New Charter Schools
Miami Dade College’s District Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve six new charter schools during their Feb. 17 meeting.
The College’s ability to establish the schools is a shift to the landscape of charter schools in Miami-Dade County. Previously, only Miami-Dade County Public Schools was able to approve and reject charter school applications.
But a bill passed in July of 2022 by former state senator Manny Díaz Jr. created the Florida Charter Institute, an organization run by MDC that oversees applications for charter schools.
“We look forward to these schools opening and to working with them as their authorizer to expand great educational options for families in this community,” said Susie Miller Carello, Executive Director of the FCI said via email to The Reporter.
The six schools the BOT approved are Doral Academies K-5, 6-8, 9-12, Civica Career And Collegiate Academy Homestead Charter School, SLAM Innovation Middle School and SLAM Innovation High School.
According to the FCI, an applicant submitted the requests for the new charter schools in December. The applications went through a detailed review by a panel of experts before being sent to the College’s BOT for approval.
The sole applicant, Academica, is a for-profit education organization that supports the creation of charter schools and their needs in Miami.
They have supported several well-known charter networks in the county, including Somerset Academy Inc., Mater Academy Inc. and International Studies Charter School.
Some members of the community have questioned MDC’s role in selecting charters, including Crystal Etienne, founder and president of EduVoter, a non-profit organization dedicated to informing voters on traditional public education through advocacy.
“In my opinion, it violates article IX, section 4 of the Florida Constitution, that assigns the operation and supervision of public schools to elected school boards,” Etienne said. “So if the claim is that a charter school is a public school, then that should lie in the hands of the elected school board members, not officials that were appointed by a governor. They weren’t elected, so they don’t technically represent anybody’s interest other than their own.”
The BOT has two members with connections to the charter school education scene—Chair Michael Bileca, who founded charter network True North Classical Academy and Vice Chair Roberto Alonso, who serves on the county school board.
When asked by The Reporter if there is a conflict of interest between his role at MDC and the board, Alonso wrote via email: “Miami Dade College and Miami-Dade County Public Schools are separate governmental entities established under different sections of Florida law. The authority granted to MDC to sponsor charter schools is a legislative decision. There is no statutory prohibition or inherent conflict in serving in both roles.”
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