Last week, 6,000 educators attending the National Education Association’s 2013 Representative Assembly voted to stand with parents against parent trigger laws. What are parent trigger laws?
With a majority of parent support, parents can petition for one of several “turnaround” options to occur:
- Convert the school into a publicly funded charter school
- Replace a substantial portion of the school administration and faculty
- Close the school
- Offer affected students vouchers to attend private schools
“Parent trigger laws play on the desires of concerned parents to improve a struggling school. But once enough parents sign onto a petition demanding reform, they are cut out of the process. The end result usually involves principals and other school personnel being fired and public schools being turned over to private or corporate operators.”