Editor’s note: This opinion piece from the Rev. Mark L. Griffin, chairman of the Wayman Academy of the Arts Board of Directors, appeared Sunday on jacksonville.com.
A recent op-ed column lamented that charter schools in Duval County “are proliferating all over town.” The author should ask herself why that is.
It’s because charters are responding to public demand: Families want them for their children.
Charter schools have become Florida’s most popular school choice option, with nearly 700 charter schools serving 341,000 students – enrollment that has increased 3.6% during the pandemic. Fifty percent of their students are from low-income families (they qualify for free or reduced-price lunches); 63% are Hispanic or Black.
They include the charter school I helped found 20 years ago, Wayman Academy of the Arts, one of the first charters in Duval County. The vast majority of our 250 students are Black and from low-income families; about a third live in the former Eureka Garden development nearby. We also attract students from around the Jacksonville area who are drawn to our rigorous academic curriculum and arts programs.
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