Dear MIT Families, Mare Island Technology (MIT) Academy Middle and High Schools are public charter schools in northern Vallejo with 800 6th-12th grade students. In our 15th year, we serve an extremely diverse student body from throughout the city, 2/3 of whom are low-income and many of whom arrive deeply deficient in skills. But despite that, both schools are among the highest achieving in Solano County, and 90% of our graduates are accepted into four-year colleges, including recently to Berkeley, UCLA, Howard, and many others. However, like many charter schools, MIT struggles with facilities. Our campus is composed of 40 portables, many that are 50+ years old and showing their age. Moreover, we dont have a gym, locker-rooms, or decent athletic fields. Districts are required by law to provide charter schools with comparable facilities, but because we have two charters, VCUSD has complied with the letter of the law and offered us rooms on two (or three) of their campuses, rather than on a single site. But that said, our amazing students and dedicated staff make do the best they can under difficult circumstances. Imagine our chagrin and disappointment, then, when we learned that VCUSD was floating a $230 million bond for improvement of school facilities and that we were not included, even though our site is by far the most desperately in need. To be completely overlooked (or worse, intentionally denied) is not only an insult to MIT and its parents and students, but is also patently unfair. When the MIT community complained, VCUSD offered to lease to MIT -- not sell, as we had repeatedly asked -- one of its oldest elementary schools, but even with that discussions broke down when the District refused to include key provisions in the agreement, including cost. Recent California history is replete with examples of districts including their independent charters in bond measures--typically with great success, as those charters work hard for bond passage. The fact VCUSD failed to include MIT Academy in their own bond measure is not only unfair, its just bad politics. Regardless of how this bond measure fares, we can only hope that the next time the District comes to the Vallejo taxpayer for support, they do so with a plan that includes the facilities needs of ALL the public school children in Vallejo. Respectfully Submitted, Matt Smith Superintendent / Director, MIT Academy
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 16:07:13 +0000
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