Santa Clara County is on the verge of the beginning of the end of public education as we have known it for the last 100 or so years. I am not intending to be hyperbolic; I’m simply stating the truth as I know it. Will each child’s educational opportunities be enhanced by the shake-up? Or will there be winners and losers?
Thursday of last week I invited Preston Smith, Chief Academic Officer of Rocketship Education, to come to an Educational Psychology graduate class I have been teaching this semester at SJSU. I conducted an interview with Preston in front of 36 graduate students who are all intent at becoming K-8 teachers. Preston and I also attempted to answer their questions and clarify issues of interest in the subjects we broached.
Once Preston left class I continued to lead a discussion. Most of my students were excited about what they heard from Preston and many were hoping someday they would be able to teach at one of Rocketship’s schools. Some of my EdPsych students did not understand the reason why we are giving state money to charter schools when our public schools need the money. I tried to explain that charter schools are public schools. (Minnesota passed the first charter school legislation in 1991 and California passed it in 1992.)
The differences between traditional public and charter education are not in a funding model, but in their ability to work with teachers without restrictions imposed by collective bargaining contracts. These include such things as tenure, senority, requirements that teachers visit student homes and other education-code bureaucratic mandates charters are exempt from meeting.
Pres. Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan are encouraging the opening of high-performing charter schools throughout America. Public school choice for parents and students is growing exponentially—a good thing if you believe like I do that the current system is badly broken.
Preston Smith extolled the virtues of the hybrid model of instructional design within a college preparatory culture, longer school day, performance pay for faculty (10 percent of base salary), strong parental engagement, innovative professional development model, subject matter specialization, and an esprit de corps of the student body. This dynamic school culture of high expectations for all learners, many come to Rocketship 3 years behind in English and Math, is working beyond most educators’ expectations. No miracles here just hard work and belief that all students can perform to grade level if given proper instruction, guidance, and time to do so.
Through the diligence, risk-taking and creative work of the two founders of Rocketship Education, Preston Smith and John Danner, we are facing systemic change like Santa Clara County public schools have never witnessed. The Santa Clara County Office of Education has already authorized 5 Rocketship Charter Elementary Schools county-wide. San Jose Unified Board of Trustees denied a Rocketship petition to open their first school in 2005. On appeal the Santa Clara County Board of Education authorized the first Rocketship School in 2006.
Three are currently up and running: Mateo Sheedy, Si Se Puede, and Los Suenos. These three school’s students demonstrate, and in most cases outperform, their sister traditional public school students on STAR/Content Standards Tests. These schools do so with a population of students where 80 percent qualify for free or reduced lunch and 75 percent are English Language Learners.
The key components of the Rocketship model include an 8am to 4pm school day, individualized computer lab instruction, high degree of instructional differentiation, an uber talented teaching faculty, and an administration that holds all accountable for high degrees of success. Their philanthropic partners listed on the website tell an important part of the story. The names include Reed Hastings, CEO Netlfix, Sheryl Sandberg, COO Facebook, Jonathan Chadwick, CFO Skype, and Bill Gurley, General Partner, Benchmark Capital.
Rocketship Education is rumored to be coming to the Santa Clara County Board of Education in the next 60 days for a request to authorize several more Rocketship Charter Schools in Santa Clara County during the next five years. With some districts approaching financial solvency issues, the state budget in disarray, and a resistance on the part of some in the educational community to work collaboratively for each and every one of our children, we face a tumultuous time ahead.
We cannot inadvertently create a system of public education that is two-tier. We already have that system with the affluent and low-income district inequity in per student funding and quality of program. We know that has not worked. We must approach the new system of public education to be born in SCC with care and collaboration.
If we plan well and with foresight and vision we can, as John Danner passionately believes, be the first region in the nation to eliminate the racial achievement gap. Rocketship is doing it today and showing us the way. We must listen to one another and act carefully so each student wins. We can no longer afford a 40 percent drop out rate for Latino youth, or an achievement gap of 30+ points on a norm-referenced test.
“We cannot inadvertently create a system of public education that is two-tier.”
I enjoyed the article Joe, but you are already too late. We already have a two-tier system right here in Santa Clara County. Contrast student achievement from students in Los Gatos-Saratoga schools with those in districts like Franklin-McKinley or Burbank. In one case you have a district with highly motivated educators who engage with students, and in the other you have districts where many teachers simply “work to contract” without much extra effort for their students. While funding is certainly an issue, you don’t need money to set reasonable expectations for teacher performance.
The charter schools are simply offering what frustrated parents in such low-performing districts can’t seem to get from the education establishment: schools that work.
Now parents have a choice between mediocrity and excellence. Which would you choose for your kid?
> Santa Clara County is on the verge of the beginning of the end of public education as we have known it for the last 100 or so years.
> I am not intending to be hyperbolic, . . . .
But, intended or not, this DOES sound like hyperbola.
Mammoth bureaucratic institutions like public education are populated with careerists who spent decades getting to where they are and learning how to survive, and they are not about to forego the gravy train that they feel entitled to.
The “old guard” has enormous capability to ensure that any “change” not to their liking can be made to fail.
I am thinking, in particular, of the Alum Rock voucher program of years past that failed because of education establishment hostility and animus, as well as the Washington, D.C. voucher program that was axed by our “hope and change” president because it represented too much change and gave too much hope to many students.
My bottom line feeling about “Rocketship” and charter schools in general:
too much hope; not enough change.
It is about time that “do as we say public schools” that have failed many students had some competition
More charter schools are needed and ” their ability to work with teachers without restrictions imposed by collective bargaining contracts. These include such things as tenure, senority, requirements that teachers visit student homes and other education-code bureaucratic mandates charters are exempt from meeting. ”
shows that more money is not the solution that CTA, many administrators and School Boards have told public but ” restrictions imposed by collective bargaining contracts” that charter and private schools don’t have in the way of academic success
Yes, money is needed in the classroom but it can be obtained from , 00’s millions are wasted by too much admin, too many schools districts and hidden benefits paid to School Boards ,
One of the most interesting things about the nation’s education system is a kind of fan dance about the facts. Now you see them, now you don’t.
Sharon Ann Noguchi wrote one of her typical fuzzy articles about the final release of the 2009-2010 API scores last Friday saying this:
“Typical is the Berryessa Union School District, where nine of 13 schools score in the top 40% of the state, yet 11 schools are still in the bottom 30% when compared with similar schools.”
She provided not a bit of explicit information to explain the drastic difference between overall success (nine schools in top 40%) and comparisons with similar schools (11 schools in the bottom 30%).
This is typical reporting by Sharon Ann Noguchi, but where does it leave the parent and the taxpayer?
As a parent I am torn on this topic. Charter schools offer more choice, but they also provide another tier in a system. i want the best for my sons and I have looked at charter schools as an option. I would prefer it if we could instead fix the current public education system and offer more choices through open enrollment processes. I think this is by far the best solution. The tricky part is how to fix the system. I can think of several things that I feel could help get the ball rolling.
– get rid of a system where schools in more affluent areas receive more money because the houses are worth more and therefore there is more of a tax base generating funding. (i think all children in California deserve equal funding)
– i know it’s not popular, but if you want better educators, we need to pay them a competitive wage that will attract the best and the brightest
– if districts are going to cut services, impose layoffs, and cut teacher’s salaries then the same districts need to have administrators that are willing to take pay cuts as well (everyone needs to share the burden)
Jennifer:
Next time, save yourself some work and just post a link to the teachers’ union talking points,
Preston was indeed an interesting guest speaker, however I for one am not jumping to seek employment at a charter school. While Rocketship may do an amazing things with student achievement they do not seem to take into account the developmental needs of their students. Also, I for one would not feel comfortable working at an institution that does not offer any promise of job security despite teacher performance.
> I for one am not jumping to seek employment at a charter school.
Wow! A rare moment of harmonious accord in the education world.
I doubt that any serious charter school would ever offer you a job if all you are interested in is “job security” [regardless of] “teacher performance”.
I think you are probably very well suited to a public school.
I have noted that you seemingly do not know how to participate unless in opposition to any (and all) comments. I wonder what you actually do “do” that is positive and worthwhile? I have witnessed this particular colleague above to be able, talented and will be a fantastic addition to any teaching staff. My hope is that you actually do more than kavetch in such silly, negative, critical ways. Someday my wish for you is that you seek to do something with that provocative, negative energy of yours and channel it into something with substance and care. Cynicism has a place, it’s just before action and it’s just after thoughtfulness- may this be *your* “teachable moment”.
> I wonder what you actually do “do” that is positive and worthwhile?
Ummm. I pay taxes.
And no one ever thanks me. They just tell me I’m cheap, mean-spirited, and don’t care about the children.
It makes me grumpy.
The charter vs. public debate aside, the education system as a whole is notorious for remaining in a 1950s textbook-and-paper model while students are tweeting on their smartphones. I think that Rocketship’s hybrid model is hitting the nail on the head. We expect teachers to do EVERYTHING from incredibly mundane tasks that anybody with a high school diploma could do all the way up to challenging high-order planning and execution. By implementing a hybrid model, you free up teachers to do the real work of teaching – which keeps them from getting burned out as easily. In the working world, we rely on computers everyday – it’s great that elementary school kids are getting this exposure! We don’t talk about the “technology gap” nearly enough when we contrast the education that high-income and low-income students receive.
After hearing about Rocketship charters and what it can offer students, I am a believer that some charter schools are beneficial. While the school days might be longer, it appears that the time is well spent. The fact that they have such High standards, shows their dedication towards excellence. I am one of those students that hopes to one day be able to be part of a school like Rocketship who puts the needs of the students first.
> I am one of those students that hopes to one day be able to be part of a school like Rocketship who puts the needs of the students first.
Tony:
Take this pledge:
“I, Tony T., vow to NEVER, EVER vote for a politician who takes money from the teachers’ unions.”
Charter schools are one step to a privatization model .One thing the charter model gives to education is a school without collective bargaining contracts . Some charters though , have some sort of written agreements with the teachers working there. Some offer salaries comparable with the public sectors . Do charters end the bureaucratic mandates ? No , they can evolve into a bureaucratic system with out any government interference .Charter schools are primary or secondary schools that receive public money but can also receive private donations that aren’t subject to some of the rules, regulations or statutes that apply to other public schools.
I have seen a Charter school with a mandate of 2 hr parent participation . Yes it’s good to have the parents involved in their child’s education , but do we need the parents to determine the curriculum as well ?
Any innovation in education can improve on the model.
To undermine the public system as a failure headed for doom , I don’t believe it’s heading there .
There is a ‘two tier’ system , that comes down to race . This subject throws everything in a controversy . For the all white , Asian population the school is successful , and probably a magnet school with a high API score . For the Latino – African American population that school is always on PI ( program improvement ) that group always is headed down the path of ‘charter conversion ’ . So my question is is education equal here?
Rocketship may indeed put students first in order to increase their API and do so in a splendid way yet there are many other public schools who do the same and are accomplished in their endeavors. The goal is to have ALL schools choose to make the best of their efforts in teaching students. This does, indeed, land on teacher accountability and their preparedness or lack thereof. Rocketship asks everything of their teachers. Teachers in failing schools should be prepared to give everything, to bring it each and every day instead of constantly being disheartened with the difficulties they face. So, they need support, from their schools, their districts, their communities. Let’s give it to them.
> Does rocketship take special education students, as the normal public schools are required ?
I’ve been told that the public school system farms out the most “difficult” and “especially challenged” special education students to “contractors”.
Observations.
1. A reasonable intelligent person with a good grasp of the English language might call this a “voucher”.
2. The public school system is really “skimming the cream” of the special education student population and taking only the “best and the brightest”. “Cream skimming” is a practice that public education system advocates always accuse elite private schools of doing.
I agree there are problems with the public schools. I don’t always agree with the teacher’s unions, but are we really comparing apples-to-apples when we compare rocketship to nearby public schools ?
What is real the spending per pupil at Rocketship ?
Some of the charter schools get extra $ from private partners. The post above listed “Reed Hastings, CEO Netlfix, Sheryl Sandberg, COO Facebook, Jonathan Chadwick, CFO Skype, and Bill Gurley, General Partner, Benchmark Capital”—how much money do they add to Rocketship’s budget?
Does rocketship take special education students, as the normal public schools are required ?
Many times the charter schools will attract a different average student base. They do this by requiring parent participation (which might be hard for working parents). I know one charter school we looked into asked for (i.e. required) a $1000 “donation”. Again, this is adding to the per pupil spending, while keeping out the “riff raff”. This may not be their intention, but it can be the result.
Note: I’m not really knocking the Rocketship or charter schools… why wouldn’t they go for extra money? I’m just pointing out that it may not be fair to compare directly to nearby public schools.
How much of Rocketship’s success is dependent on the presence of the nearby neighborhood schools? It would be interesting to see if they could they have the same success if they were responsible for educating all the students in a geographical area?
Joseph describes Rocketship as a “hybrid model of instructional design within a college preparatory culture, longer school day, performance pay for faculty (10 percent of base salary), strong parental engagement, innovative professional development model, subject matter specialization, and an esprit de corps of the student body.”
Question time…
* College preparatory culture: What exactly is this?
* Longer school day: How much longer?
* Performance pay for faculty: What pedagogical or other changes does performance pay inspire?
* Subject matter specialization: Are teachers hired with specialization already in place and if so, how do we duplicate this in neighborhood public schools?
* Innovative professional development model: What’s innovative and what’s different?
* Esprit de corps of student body: What’s being done to create more “spirit” compared to neighborhood public schools?
While we need specifics for all items above, I suggest the most impactful difference is… Longer school days, Longer school days, Longer School Days, LONGER SCHOOL DAYS. Rocketship public charter schools provide longer school days than do neighborhood public schools.
Hmmmmm……. How do we duplicate this significant difference from neighborhood public schools? Schools trustees? Hello? Who is ready to make longer school days a major item of negotiation for your district’s next teachers’ contract?
If a longer school day is a significant part of the Rocketship model, then we all have to consider how we make a longer school day happen in all public schools.
Reading these comments, I see just how limited people’s perceptions are of what it is like to teach in many of our “underperforming” public schools. I work for a”downtown” public, and I would say I average 60 hours a week between teaching, lesson planning, meeting with parents, staff meetings and other duties. I frequently go in on the weekends to prep my classroom and typically find several other colleagues there too. So to those naysayers who think we are in it for security or a free ride, I suggest you try teaching for a year in a public and then come back and tell me what you think.
Second, Rocketship schools have advantages over typical publics that I agree are crucial to their success. First, their school day is up to two hours longer. Now, I am a union member, but I must say, I would actually appreciate having a longer school day, especially since I’m usually around teaching small groups after school anyways. Second, Rocketship can choose their students (through a lottery system), and they also have the right to expel those who do not fit in their structures. We do not have the luxury of choosing our students. I do not see where people are getting the notion that we do. We must educate children from all walks, and there are many laws, regulations and steps in place that make expulsion a limited option. Finally, Rocketship demands a certain amount of service hours from parents, and can expel families if they do not comply. I’m lucky if I can get certain parents to pick up the phone after numerous tries, and I had EIGHT out of 31 parents show up to my back to school night. Talk about pathetic. so before you throw stones at public school teachers, why don’t you try walking in our shoes.
Oh yes, and on a different note… the next time you visit a Rocketship school, ask how many teachers have real, valid credentials, and also ask for the average amount of years staff members have been working there. I know for a fact that many of those teachers are uncredentialled Teach for America recruits who work their fingers to the bone for 2 or 3 years, burn out, and then take of for law school or other pursuits.