Rocketship Leaves Questions Unanswered

In the Tuesday Mercury News, Sam Liccardo suggested that the next mayor of San Jose should promote Rocektship’s model of education by extending the school day and creating “learning” labs for after-school programs.  On Wednesday, Rocektship lost its chance to defend this model when they withdrew their appeal of Morgan Hill’s denial of their charter petition.

After the November 20, 2013 County board meeting, many questions were left unanswered:

1)      What is the real student-teacher ratio at Roceksthip and do they include tutors and

lab assistants in this ratio?

2)      How do they plan to transform the teaching profession when 35% of their teachers left at the end of last school year?

3)      Do members of Rocketship’s National Board have a financial interest in their expansion?

4)      Are California funds being used for expansion and in opening of schools outside of the state?

5)      Are they prepared for two major state reforms in education: the new local control funding formula and the common core state standards?

6)      Does Rocketship encourage students who are not proficient to leave at the end of the year?

Rocketship agreed to extend the deadline for the county decision, so that county staff could analyze the petition and reasons for denial and it would give Rocketship adequate time to prepare responses to the questions and concerns brought up during the meeting. Rocketship ended 2013 with a series of city council, planning commission, and school board meetings, maybe 2014 is the year they spend more time in the classroom and less time in public meetings.

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