The concerns raised by critics of Tassajara Prep fall into four distinct categories:

HARM

1. Instead of diverting our resources and energy to building a new high school, why not work with the district to improve the current high school?  Dublin High School is a good high school, and Tassajara Prep will not detract from the scholastic achievements of Dublin High School students. Tassajara Prep will provide families in Dublin a choice of two public high schools, so students may find the school that best meets their needs.
2. Tassajara Prep will be taking money away from Dublin High’s programs (e.g., fewer AP classes and enrichment programs). Like any other public high school, Tassajara Prep will receive funding from local property taxes, state education aid and categorical funding programs, the California Lottery, the federal government, fundraising, and other sources. That money has always belonged to the students and should, therefore, follow the students to their school of choice. Neither Dublin High School nor Tassajara Prep is entitled to that money. Dublin High School will receive less funding if it has fewer students to educate. If managed efficiently, the cost of AP classes and enrichment programs should decrease.
3. Having high schools on both sides of town will divide Dublin and do permanent harm to our city. Many cities in the East Bay have at least two high schools. Cities like Pleasanton, San Ramon, and Danville have survived and thrived with two high schools. Most families prefer having a choice of schools, and friendly crosstown rivalries help elevate performance and contribute to the vibrancy of the community.
4. Tassajara Prep will lead to massive job cuts throughout the school district. Tassajara Prep will hire teachers and produce a net gain in teaching opportunities in Dublin.  The number of available teaching positions due to turnover in traditional district-run public schools like Dublin High School is typically higher than the number of teaching positions that need to be consolidated due to charter schools. A 2004 study of teacher turnover found the national annual turnover rate to be over 15 percent. The reduction in the teaching force due to the opening of Tassajara Prep will allow Dublin Unified School District (DUSD) to reduce their hiring needs through attrition alone. The claim that charter schools will cause teachers to lose their jobs is therefore unfounded.

ADEQUACY

1. Dublin cannot compete with local districts that have high schools with over 2000 students. Only schools with large student populations can offer strong programs. The average enrollment of the top 10 high schools in America is 681 students, according to U.S. News & World Report. Parents in Dublin have commonly heard that students are better served by a high school of more than 2,000 students than by a smaller high school of 1,000-1,200 students. Recent studies have shown that students do better in schools with smaller learning environments with no more than 300 students per grade level. The maximum number of students per grade at Tassajara Prep will be 216 initially.
2. With virtually no track record for success, Tassajara Prep will be using the first classes as “guinea pigs.” Tassajara Prep will provide a rigorous curriculum that uses the University of California A-G requirements and the traditional honors track to define our minimum graduation standards. Tassajara Prep’s administration and faculty will be staffed entirely with fully-credentialed educators selected for their desire and ability to deliver an outstanding academic experience in a small learning environment. One of Tassajara Prep’s primary missions is to develop a nurturing, highly-individualized educational program with much closer interactions between teachers and students than at traditional public high schools. Right from the first year of operation, we expect students to thrive and excel under the careful guidance of highly-motivated teachers who truly care about the success of each and every student.
3. Tassajara Prep will be targeting only the elite students and prescribe one rigid track to success for its students.  Tassajara Prep believes in the potential of all students to succeed regardless of their gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, and socio-economic background. We will apply innovative teaching methods and best practices that have been extremely successful in schools with small, tightly-knit learning communities, as we prepare all of our students for college and beyond.

NEED

1. Tassajara Prep will not offer anything that Dublin High does not provide. Tassajara Prep will provide a rigorous curriculum that uses the University of California A-G requirements and the traditional honors track to define our minimum graduation requirements. Tassajara Prep will also offer areas of emphasis that include Environmental Studies, Arts & Humanities, Applied Technology, and Entrepreneurship. Finally, Tassajara Prep will apply innovative teaching methods and best practices that have been extremely successful in schools with small, tightly-knit learning communities, as we prepare our students for success in college and beyond.
2. We only have 1,450 students at Dublin High School. Dublin does not need a second high school. Dublin is the fastest growing Bay Area city with a population that is projected by the Association of Bay Area Governments to increase by more than 70% to 80,000 by 2035. Pleasanton, San Ramon, and Danville all have populations less than 70,000, yet they all have over 4,000 high school students. Dublin’s high school student population will not stay at 1,450 for long. We must build a second high school now in anticipation of the coming growth, while land is available and construction costs are relatively low.
3. The renovated Dublin High School will have sufficient capacity for 2,500 students and more. The average enrollment of the top 10 high schools in America is 681 students, according to U.S. News & World Report. Parents in Dublin have commonly heard that students are better served by a high school with at least 2,000 students than by a smaller high school with roughly 1,000 students; however, recent studies have shown that students perform better in schools that embrace smaller learning environments where each grade level has no more than 300 students. The maximum number of students per grade at Tassajara Prep will be 216 initially and is not expected to exceed 297 ever.
4. Dublin has indeed experienced record surge in population over the last few years. Given the number of foreclosures and short sales on the current market, Dublin may never grow at the same rate again. The challenges in the local real estate market are temporary. We are already seeing an increase in median home sale prices and home sale transactions. The national economy has emerged from the recession, and the Bay Area will lead the way in the next phase of economic expansion. Dublin will grow faster than all other Bay Area cities and will attract a higher percentage of families, once Tassajara Prep opens in 2012.
5. Dublin already decided years ago that the city only needs one high school. People who bought in east Dublin were aware of that decision, so they have relinquished all rights to another high school. DUSD had the land to build a high school in east Dublin at the current location of Fallon Middle School but decided to give back half the acreage to developers in 2001. Many residents who bought in east Dublin from the late 90s through 2000 were told that a high school would be part of the Eastern Dublin Specific Plan. The decision not to build a high school in east Dublin was made at a time when most of the new residents had not yet arrived. Over the years, thousands of Dublin residents have expressed a need for a second high school, and they are entitled to demand what is best for their children. Because Tassajara Prep is a public charter school, it will be open to every family in Dublin just like Dublin High School. Students and parents throughout Dublin deserve to have two outstanding high schools, so they may choose one that best meets their educational needs.

AFFORDABILITY

1. There is no available land; vacant office space is too expensive; and sufficient funding to build a state-of-the-art high school will not be available. Much of our city under the Eastern Dublin Specific Plan has yet to be built out. Hundreds of acres in available land form blank canvases that hold limitless possibilities. The recent economic recession and real estate slump have provided an opportunity to buy land and lease office space for a fraction of the prices from a few years ago. Tassajara Prep will have the option to accept a Proposition 39 facility from DUSD or lease commercial office space at an affordable rate, while we work to get the permanent facility built.
2. We already spent a lot of money renovating Dublin High School. With the state budget the way it is, why are we “putting a down payment on another house when we have plenty of room in our current home?” All Dublin parents deserve to have a choice in where they send their high school age students. Tassajara Prep will provide parents another public high school option with a rigorous curriculum, a unique learning environment, and educational opportunities that are markedly different from what Dublin High School offers. Tassajara Prep will apply innovative teaching methods and best practices that have been extremely successful in schools with small, tightly-knit learning communities, as we prepare our students for success in college and beyond.
3. Because charter schools get less funding than traditional public schools, Tassajara Prep will not be able to operate without tremendous monetary donations and hefty volunteer hours from parents. Tassajara Prep will be able to fulfill its mission as stated in our charter petition on State funding alone. Monetary donations and volunteer hours from parents will supplement enrichment programs, but they will not be required. In other words, Tassajara Prep will not be any more reliant on parents than any traditional public school.