Santa Clara County Board of Education Approves Five New Charter Schools

SAN JOSE, CA--Acting on a countywide charter school petition from Rocketship Education, the Santa Clara County Board of Education voted unanimously on Wednesday to establish up to five new K-5 charter schools over the next four years.

The charter school association already operates a K-5 school - Rocketship Mateo Sheedy Elementary School in San Jose. Rocketship Two is scheduled to open in August.

Following rigorous questioning to guarantee high standards, board members approved the request. Rocketship now is authorized to open new schools without additional board action at the approved rate, as long as stipulated student testing standards are met.

In the event that API Outcome Standards or COE compliance requirements are not met, staff would notify Rocketship and the Board of Education that Rocketship had not met the standards to open a new school in the coming year.

The board has now approved 13 charters that come under the auspices of the Santa Clara County Office of Education.

• Craig Mann, SCC Board of Education president at (408) 270-6988
• John Danner, CEO Rocketship Education at (650) 815-5122

A charter school is a public school, and it may provide instruction in any of grades K-12. Charters are generally exempt from most laws governing school districts except where specifically noted in the law. California public charter schools are required to participate in the statewide assessment test, called the STAR (Standardized Testing and Reporting) program. The law also requires that a public charter school be nonsectarian in its programs, admission policies, and employment practices. Public charters may not charge tuition and may not discriminate against any pupil on the basis of ethnicity, national origin, gender, or disability.

Visit www.sccoe.org/schooldirectory/charter/ for a list of charters in Santa Clara County.

Date last updated: June 18, 2009