New Florida Charter Institute to Support Innovation in Education

Do you know what role authorizers play in approving charter school applications? Are you up to date with data on how the most successful charter schools operate? Are your school’s teachers and administrators participating in training workshops to improve student outcomes?

Good news! The Florida Charter Institute is going to provide answers to these and many other questions about the process of running a successful charter school.

Florida Charter Institute was created in 2022 by the Florida Legislature for the purpose of continuing to improve the charter landscape throughout the state. FCI received a grant to begin its operations in April of 2023 and hiring staff should be completed later this year.

In the meantime, Florida Charter Institute is putting its name at the forefront of the charter school community as a platinum sponsor for Building Hope’s 2023 IMPACT Summit & Awards program.

“We’re all about researching how the most successful charter schools around the country operate, so being part of the IMPACT Summit & Awards is a great starting point,” Curtis Fuller, the interim executive director at Florida Charter Institute, said. “The Summit gives us a chance to learn more about how these schools operate, figure out what their best practices are and find ways to disseminate that to other charters statewide.”

The first area that FCI will focus on is the authorizing process. Individuals, families, or businesses interested in opening a charter school may be unaware of what needs to be part of their application before the school opens and what they must do afterwards to adhere to their mission, provide sound educational programs, gather necessary resources to fund the school and be accountable for student outcomes.

Florida Charter Institute will review charter school applications and evaluations over the last five years to identify the common strengths and weaknesses. They plan to develop resources and training to help groups write high quality applications and help districts and colleges with the process of reviewing those applications.

FCI is also focusing on the best instructional practices used at schools, and as such will be offering a Leverage Leadership Institute Training Program for charter school administrators (June 13-14) and a Teach Like a Champion training program for teachers (July 27-28) at the Miami Dade College Campus.

“Florida Charter Institute is going to be all about promoting charter schools and helping them provide high-quality education for their students,” Fuller said. “We want to be regarded as the pre-eminent authorizer and think tank for charter schools in the state of Florida and beyond.”