Triggering School Reform--and Union Dirty Tricks: In California, parent power brings out the worst in the education establishment.

David Feith:

Where's the toughest battlefield in American education these days? Certainly New Orleans and Harlem host controversially high concentrations of charter schools, while New Jersey and Louisiana boast governors who challenge teachers unions with verve. But for downright nastiness, Southern California is ground zero.

SoCal earns this dubious distinction largely because of the educational establishment's rage over "parent trigger," a reform that's been on California's books since January 2010. It's a "lynch mob provision," declared Marty Hittelman, president of the powerful California Federation of Teachers. Why? Because it gives unprecedented rights to parents whose children are stuck in failing public schools. If more than 50% sign a petition, they can force a school closed, shake up its administration, or turn it into a charter.

The first parent trigger was pulled in December 2010 at Compton's McKinley Elementary School. Immediately, McKinley teachers began leaning on parents to rescind their signatures--first at a PTA meeting, then by pressuring their kids during school. Soon the school district insisted that parents validate their signatures by appearing at McKinley with official photo identification--naked intimidation of those who were undocumented immigrants and a violation of the First Amendment, said Los Angeles Superior Court. Yet the district persisted, soon rejecting every parent's signature on technicalities that are still tied up in court a year later.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at February 26, 2012 4:36 AM
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