Charter Schools in Miami: How Many, How to Enroll, Rules and 2026 Grades

The School Board of Miami-Dade County oversees 159 charter schools across the district, enrolling over 86,767 students from kindergarten through 12th grade, which M-DCPS puts at over 27.2% of district enrollment (M-DCPS Charter School Compliance and Support).

Miami-Dade County Public Schools runs that portfolio through its Charter School Compliance and Support office, whose site links a CS School Directory, parent FAQs, pages for new school applicants and operators, and accountability data (M-DCPS). The district describes charter schools as tuition-free public schools that operate independently under a performance contract, or charter, between a governing board and the local public school board.

Beyond Miami-Dade, the Florida Department of Education counts more than 739 charter schools in Florida in 2025-2026, up from the first ones in 1996, with charter enrollment above 408,481 students (Florida Department of Education, Charter Schools).

A Miami family applies to the charter school itself, and the school must enroll an eligible student who applies on time unless applications exceed capacity, in which case every applicant gets an equal chance through a random selection process (Florida Statutes, section 1002.33).

Charter schools are open to all students living in the district, so any Miami-Dade child is eligible to apply, but the state allows a charter school to target certain groups: specific age groups or grade levels, students at risk of dropping out or failing, students living within a reasonable distance, and students meeting reasonable academic, artistic or other standards set by the school (Florida Department of Education, Charter School FAQ).

FDOE lists enrollment preferences a charter school may give, including siblings of current students, children of a governing board member or employee, and children of employees of a workplace charter's business partner (FDOE). When a traditional public school converts to charter status, Florida law gives preference to students who would otherwise have attended it (Florida Statutes). A practical tip for Miami parents: ask each school which of the FDOE-listed preferences it applies (FDOE).

No tuition: Florida requires every charter school, including those in Miami, not to charge tuition or registration fees, and it must also pay for an annual financial audit and take full part in the state accountability program (FDOE, Charter School FAQ).

On transportation, FDOE says charter schools are entitled to their proportionate share of transportation funds for eligible students, and that the charter school and the school district must cooperate so that transportation is not a barrier to equal access for students living within a reasonable distance of the school (FDOE). A Miami family should ask each charter how it meets that duty before applying.

For Miami charter schools, as for every Florida charter, teachers employed by or under contract to the school must be certified, while charter school administrators are not required to be certified (FDOE). Every charter governing board must also appoint a representative to facilitate parental involvement.

In the Florida Department of Education's 2025-26 school grades, dated as of September 1, 2026, 107 of the 147 Miami-Dade charter schools that received a grade earned an A, and none received an F (FDOE, 2026 School Grades).

The counts come from the Charter School column of the FDOE file for the Miami-Dade district (FDOE). Of the 147 graded Miami-Dade charters, 48 are elementary schools, 28 middle, 30 high and 41 combination schools under the file's school type codes, and 69 are marked Title I. The file holds 147 Miami-Dade charter rows, against the 159 charter schools the district says it oversees; the file does not list the other 12 (M-DCPS).

A school grade is one state measure, built from achievement, learning gains, acceleration and graduation rate components, with grading scales that differ for elementary, middle, and high and combination schools (FDOE). For a single Miami school, the grade history in the same FDOE file and the school's own accountability report on the M-DCPS charter directory are the official places to look.

The Miami-Dade School Board is the sponsor of the charter schools it approves, under a negotiated contract that sets expectations for each school's academic and financial performance, and most Florida charters run for five years (FDOE, Charter School FAQ).

FDOE describes how a Miami charter comes to exist: an individual, a group of parents or teachers, a business, a municipality or another legal entity applies to the school district, the district approves, the applicants form a governing board, and that board negotiates a contract with the district school board (FDOE). A charter school must be organized as, or be operated by, a nonprofit organization.

For checking a Miami charter's finances, the M-DCPS charter office posts a directory of charter schools with the latest accountability report and audit report for each (M-DCPS). The district's general line, for non-technical questions, is (305) 995-1000, at 1450 NE 2nd Ave., Miami, FL 33132.

FDOE says charter schools are generally exempt from the Florida K-20 Education Code, except the statutes written for charter schools and those on student assessment and school grading, services to students with disabilities, civil rights, student health, safety and welfare, and maximum class size (FDOE). Charter school buildings in Miami cannot be held by a local government to building requirements stricter than the Florida Building Code, and charter schools are exempt from ad valorem taxes and building license fees.

In Miami-Dade as in the rest of the state, Florida allows conversion charters, charter schools-in-the-workplace, charter schools-in-a-municipality and community college charter schools, and it gives extra freedoms to high-performing charters (FDOE, Charter School FAQ).

A Miami-Dade conversion charter must have run for at least two years as a traditional public school, and conversion needs the support of at least 50 percent of its teachers and at least 50 percent of voting parents (FDOE). A charter school-in-a-municipality, sponsored by the district with a city, enrolls students by a random lottery among the children of the city's residents.

For Miami-Dade operators, a high-performing charter is one with at least two A grades and nothing below a B over the last three years, or two consecutive A grades in the two most recent years, plus an unqualified opinion on each recent annual audit and no audit showing a financial emergency; it may raise enrollment once a year beyond its charter capacity up to facility capacity, add grade levels and receive a 15-year charter (FDOE). School grades are one of those criteria. Last verified: October 18, 2026, against the M-DCPS charter office home page, the FDOE charter page and FAQ, Florida Statute 1002.33 and the FDOE 2026 school grades file.