Rocketship blueprints2/19/2023 ![]() “If a kid is not working out, they can suggest he go back to public school,” said Carol Myers, a former San Jose Unified trustee and charter critic. Other critics accuse the charter of cherry-picking students, favoring those with involved parents and shunning troublesome children. “I encourage you to ask for Rocketship to come back to the districts to ask to operate these schools,” Vincent Matthews, superintendent of San Jose Unified, told the county school board in the spring. Instead of applying to individual school districts for charter approval, Rocketship plans to win a county board OK for 20 schools in one vote. School district officials are not so welcoming of Rocketship’s plans, which will siphon away students and the state funding that follows them. Parents pay no tuition but must volunteer at least 30 hours per year per child. For the longer day, teachers get paid 10 percent above local school districts’ scales, and another 10 percent if their students meet test goals.Īs charters, Rocketship schools are public schools that run freed from most provisions of the state Education Code and independently of local school boards. “Last week I emailed the teacher at 8 p.m., and she got back to me in 10 minutes,” Mulloy said.Īt 8 at night? Rocketship teachers work long hours, often seven days a week. Her daughter Madeline is now happily at Rocketship Los Suenos. Molly Mulloy put her daughter’s name in the lottery for all five Rocketship schools, after not finding acceptable options in the Alum Rock Union School District where they reside. The schools aren’t coming soon enough for parents on waiting lists, who are attracted by not only the charter’s academics but also its character education. It has applied to open campuses in Oakland, East Palo Alto and San Francisco and has been invited to run schools in Milwaukee and New Orleans. ![]() Three more already-approved Rocketship schools will open next year in San Jose. On Friday, Rocketship notified eight school districts that it plans to locate 20 schools within their boundaries. Among Rocketship students, 90 percent are poor and Latino and 75 percent are learning English. Rocketship schools collectively score 868 on the state’s 200-to-1,000 testing index, higher than schools with similar demographics. The teachers they do hire have more time to work with small groups and teach critical thinking, said Preston Smith, co-founder and chief achievement officer. Rocketship contends that its 500-student schools save about $500,000 per campus because its hybrid class-learning lab model allows the school to hire fewer teachers. Rocketship students spend a quarter of their time at school in computer labs, where they learn basic concepts, practice lessons and take tests tailored to individuals. Instead of 20 schools, he said, “we should be asking why not 40-plus high-performing schools right now, today, as our students only get one chance in life to be well-educated.” Craig Mann, who as a county schools trustee will vote on Rocketship’s petition, called the plan reasonable. ![]() Some skeptical officials view with alarm the proposal to forge ahead with charter schools, but others welcome it. However, a huge growth spurt, taking Rocketship’s model national, is creating internal challenges and generating opposition among educators. ![]() Rocketship has embraced much of what is chic in education: closing the achievement gap, harnessing technology for teaching, intensively training teachers, shedding bureaucracy and cutting costs. And if the county board of education grants its request later this fall, Rocketship would be equivalent to the sixth largest of 31 school districts in the county. With 2,400 students, Rocketship is the largest charter-school operator in the county. Launched in 2007 with one school in San Jose, Rocketship grew to five elementaries this year and plans for 23 more schools in Santa Clara County by 2017. With solid test scores, deep pockets of donors and the high-tech cachet of its hybrid-model school, the Palo Alto-based charter operator has captured attention nationwide with its simple mission: Educate poor, English-learners whom other schools have failed. Aptly having chosen its name, Rocketship Education is rapidly ascending. ![]()
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