Considering Bullis Charter School?

Applying to Bullis Charter School is your endorsement of all of adverse the things the BCS Board has done and promises to do in the future: simply applying and will harm local public schools as BCS uses these applications as proof that their actions against our public schools are popular and correct.

Public school parents--your neighbors--need your help: please don't apply to Bullis Charter School.

Facts for Prospective BCS Parents

• Our public schools are top-ranked. Your local neighborhood public schools here in Los Altos and Hills are the top-ranked in the State (and test scores at BCS are virtually identical).
• Our public schools are outstanding. Contrary to the disinformation you receive from BCS marketing propaganda, our public schools here are innovative, teach the "whole child" and produce excellent results. LASD schools were recently featured in CBS "60 Minutes" for their innovation (BCS was not).
• Our public schools are free. BCS charges what many call a "tuition" of at least $5000/year. There was once a "Wall of Shame" in the front of the BCS campus for non-payers. Not paying the full $5000/child at BCS means your fellow parents must pay more. BCS cannot survive without your full $5000/child payment, unlike the relatively small, supplemental and fully voluntary donations asked by our local public schools. The BCS "tuition" is likely not a Federal tax write-off (see IRS Publication 526) and doing so could lead to audits and back taxes and penalties due.
• BCS is not "innovative". BCS produces test scores similar to surrounding schools even though they educate a less diverse population. BCS boasts extra-curricular activities which are available separately at every school in our district--for far less than $5000 per year.
• BCS is unfair and cruel. BCS operates to the detriment of our local public schools who are charged with educating special-needs children, must pay for the upkeep of facilities and must pay for retired teachers. BCS pays for none of these things, yet they add up to a lot of money--far more than the approximately $2800/child (not $5000 as they imply) difference in public funding.
• BCS puts your child at risk. Many parents send their child to BCS only to find they need to take them out of the program after a short time, disrupting their education and forcing them to begin again at a new school during a critical time in their education.
• BCS ignores parents. BCS is not a public school and can throw out anybody they want. Unlike even a private school you are not a "customer" here, you are a "guest" of the super-rich who control the school. At BCS, if a child is not "perfect" parents may find their child shunned--and even forced, embarrassingly, out of the program. No parent can question the principal's absolute and unchecked authority at BCS.
• BCS attacks our public schools.. Bullis Charter School has repeatedly sued our school District and it has supported deceitful campaigns to cut off funding from public schools. Through their actions they harm public school children by diminishing the funds they have available for their programs. They set a terrible example for kids by teaching them that "might makes right": whoever has the best and most expensive lawyers "wins" and anything goes as long as you win in court.
• Bullis Charter parents and children are singled-out. BCS over-hypes its programs and makes them out to be amazing and lavish and private-school-like. Attending this school is the opposite of "low key". You can expect a pause in every conversation with your fellow community members. Reactions ranging from polite silence to outright anger are common as the school's terrible reputation often unfairly spills over to its own innocent parents and children.
• BCS leadership are hardened fanatics. The core of BCS is a deep hatred towards public schools, democracy, and the leaders our local community elects. They are at war with public school parents. BCS leadership are filled with aggressive, "win-at-all-costs" personalities who would sacrifice anybody who would get in the way of their global political objectives--objectives that have nothing to do with children or education. BCS is a "cause", not a school.
• BCS is temporary. This school is propped up financially by the school's super-rich founders. What happens when their own kids leave? They have no plan. The BCS curriculum is different than LASD's so moving your child back to LASD may be very difficult for them academically.