Florida’s public schools deserve investment, not privatization disguised as innovation.
Miami-Dade’s public schools already deliver what charter operators only promise: high performance, innovation, and genuine community connection. Yet Florida’s new laws are paving the way for out-of-state corporations like Success Academy to muscle into our district threatening a system that’s working for our families and our future.
Supporters point to Success Academy’s test scores as proof of its effectiveness. But beneath those glossy numbers lies a record that should give Miami serious pause. Its story in New York City and the political forces driving its expansion into Florida reveal a model built not on equity or excellence, but on exclusion, control, and profit.
A Culture of Exclusion Behind High Scores
Success Academy rose to prominence by boasting some of the highest standardized test scores in New York. But those results come at a cost. The network has faced lawsuits for discriminating against students with disabilities and for systematically pushing out children who struggle academically or behaviorally.
Administrators were found to have maintained a “Got to Go” list a roster of students deemed too disruptive to keep enrolled. Families reported relentless pressure to withdraw their children rather than see them repeatedly suspended or publicly humiliated.
The organization’s “no-excuses” discipline model enforces rigid behavioral compliance, even among the youngest students. A viral classroom video showing a teacher berating and tearing up a kindergartner’s work laid bare the emotional toll of a system driven by fear and conformity. Former teachers describe burnout, high turnover, and an environment where compliance is valued over compassion.
A Bad Fit for Miami’s Public School Landscape
Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) stand as one of the most diverse and successful urban districts in America. The district serves students from more than 160 countries, offers over 400 choice programs, and has been recognized by the Florida Department of Education as an Academically High-Performing School District for maintaining excellence, transparency, and fiscal responsibility.
That record wasn’t built through exclusion or intimidation it was built through innovation and inclusion. Miami’s teachers, principals, and families have proven that diverse classrooms and multilingual learners are not obstacles, but strengths. Importing a rigid, one-size-fits-all model like Success Academy’s would undermine decades of local progress and risk alienating the very students our public schools are meant to uplift.
Billionaire-Driven, Not Community-Driven
Let’s be clear: Success Academy isn’t expanding to Florida because families asked for it. It’s coming because wealthy political donors and out-of-state power brokers made it possible. Behind the scenes, billionaire financiers with deep political ties lobbied for state laws that tilt the playing field toward large charter operators like Success.
Under these new laws, charter schools can co-locate inside public school buildings and require districts to provide transportation, maintenance, and security at no cost effectively forcing taxpayers to subsidize private control of public assets.
This is not grassroots reform. It’s a top-down takeover a calculated effort by political and corporate interests to profit from public education while stripping communities of local control. Miami didn’t ask for this, and our families shouldn’t be forced to bear the consequences.
The Local Cost of Corporate “Choice”
When well-funded charter chains enter a district, they don’t compete fairly they drain. Each student who leaves for a charter takes public funding with them, pulling resources from neighborhood schools that serve every child, not just those who fit a mold. Over time, that means fewer dollars for arts, athletics, career programs, and special education, the very programs that make public education whole.
Miami’s public schools are more than places of learning; they’re pillars of community stability. They provide meals, after-school programs, counseling, and family support. Weakening them destabilizes neighborhoods, particularly in working-class and immigrant communities that rely on their schools as centers of opportunity and care.
Accountability Belongs to the Public Not Private Boards
Traditional public schools answer to the public. They’re governed by elected boards, subject to open meetings, and bound by laws that ensure transparency and accountability. Success Academy, on the other hand, answers to a private board and its funders.
That difference matters. In M-DCPS, parents have a voice. Teachers have representation. Decisions are made in the open. In a corporate-style charter system, those decisions happen behind closed doors often without recourse or transparency. A network repeatedly accused of secrecy and retaliation should not be entrusted with Miami’s classrooms.
Miami’s Own Proven Path Forward
Miami doesn’t need to import controversy to achieve excellence, it already has a blueprint for success. Through magnet programs, dual-language academies, and career pathways, M-DCPS has created real choices for families without abandoning equity or accountability.
What Miami’s schools truly need is not privatization, but investment: competitive teacher pay, affordable housing for educators, smaller class sizes, and stronger mental health supports for students. Those are real, evidence-based solutions not the corporate experiments being sold as “innovation.”
A Warning, Not a Roadmap
Success Academy’s story is a cautionary tale one of impressive numbers hiding deeper inequities, of public dollars flowing into private hands, and of policies that divide rather than unite.
Miami should take that warning seriously. Our public schools are thriving because they belong to the community not to donors, investors, or political interests. Allowing an out-of-state network designed and financed by billionaires to reshape what we’ve built would be a grave mistake.
Miami’s families don’t need another corporate experiment. They need continued investment in what already works: public schools that welcome every child, strengthen every neighborhood, and answer only to the people they serve.
Crystal President of EduVoter is a Miami-Dade educator with years of classroom experience, Crystal is committed to ensuring every child, regardless of background, has the same chance to succeed. She champions strong, free, and open public schools—free from privatization, censorship, and political agendas—so every child can learn and thrive. Crystal works directly with communities, educators, and policymakers to protect school funding, support teachers, and defend the rights of all students to a quality education.
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