“A Hostile Takeover Of Community-Owned Property” — How Schools Of Hope Intend To Overtake Our Public Schools

Eddie and Steph welcome Liz Barker, School Board Member for Sarasota County Public Schools, to the pod. The topic of conversation is the sneakily named Schools of Hope: the latest rendition of privately owned and operated schools funded by our public tax dollars. Liz begins by defining Schools of Hope (20:17) and shares more information from her recent Opinion Piece in the Herald Tribune titled, Sarasota schools could become rent-free spaces for others. We must act now. (30:07) They discuss the ramifications of Schools of Hope being allowed to co-locate in any of our traditional schools, not just the schools that have been labeled as “persistently low performing,”  and the Hope operators’ stated intention to ultimately take over the entire school. Liz inspires us all to take action and to fight back against these Schools of Hope (50:43). We bring the episode to a close by discussing Liz’s newest neighbor on the dais - the School Board Member she defeated in 2024 (55:10) - and how Liz maintains her mantra of community over chaos even in the most challenging times.    2026 Sarasota Legislative Agenda    Liz’s Op-Ed: “Sarasota schools could become rent-free spaces for others. We must act now.”   Follow us: Liz Barker Extracurricular Podcast Stephanie Vanos Eddie Geller