Miami-Dade County is home to an impressive 516 public schools and 334,261 students, with 90% of them being minorities and 55.2% of them being economically disadvantaged. In addition to the public schools, there are also 422 private schools in the county. Funding for these schools comes from both state and local sources, such as property taxes, as well as from federal programs such as Title I. According to News and Report rankings, Florida is the third best state for education and ranks tenth overall among the best schools in the United States.
Data provided by Miami-Dade County revealed a difference in the student-teacher ratio between public and private schools. In public schools, the average class size is 22 students per teacher, while in private schools it is 15 students per teacher. This means that public school classrooms are more crowded than private school classrooms. Advocates are concerned that this new law will divert money away from public schools and leave children in these schools with fewer resources.
This could lead to an increase in underfunded classrooms that cannot meet the needs of students.
