SchoolsThursday, November 5
Miami-Dade's new schools chief says affordability and fewer births are shrinking enrollment
The 5AM Miami team
If you have a kid in Miami-Dade schools, meet the new boss. Rafael A. Villalobos, picked unanimously by the School Board to succeed Dr. Jose A. Dortes in September 2026, told the South Florida Times his uncle talked him out of law enforcement with one line: teach them first. He started at South Dade Senior High School in 1994.
The district has lost roughly 15,000 students and millions in federal and state funding. Multiple reports blamed charters, vouchers and homeschooling. Villalobos points to fewer births, affordability and immigration, and wants to market the district on social media.
Villalobos leads the nation's third largest school district
- 326
- schools in the district
- 338,000
- students
- 17,700
- teachers, roughly
- $7.4 billion
- district budget
Source: South Florida Times
- Graduation rate: 95% in 2025, per Villalobos
- Scholarships offered to 2026 graduates: $649 million
- AP students: more than 33,700 in 2025-2026
- Seventh consecutive A grade, earned over the summer
Schools were also on the Nov. 3 ballot. In an op-ed, Villalobos said the referendum asked voters to renew the existing one-mill property-tax levy for four more years, with no rate increase, for teacher pay and school safety.
15,000students the district has lost, roughly
Villalobos says the losses come from fewer births, affordability and immigration.
Source: South Florida Times
Sources: South Florida Times, Miami’s Community News