New school reform legislation requires Connecticut school boards with low-achieving schools to create school governance councils for those schools made up mostly of students’ parents. The councils are empowered to, among other things, vote to reorganize low-achieving schools. For more information, please visit:
January 26, 2011
California “Parent Trigger” Law Invoked
One of the more highly publicized education bills considered in the General Assembly’s 2010 session was the so-called “parent trigger,” which would have allowed a majority of the parents of students attending a persistently failing school to force changes in its operations. The bill was based on a California law enacted in January 2010, which allows 51% of the parents of students attending such a school to vote for new leadership at the school, takeover by a charter school operator, school vouchers, or school closure.
Parents of students at McKinley Elementary School in Compton, California are the first to exercise their power under the California law. According to the New York Times, 61% (250) of parents are demanding that McKinley be turned into a charter school. McKinley, where many of the parents are immigrants and 100% of the students are eligible for free school lunches, has struggled for years. Less than 25% of its fifth graders perform at grade level in reading and math.
Education analysts expect the Compton parents’ petition and the new law will face legal challenges.
New school reform legislation requires Connecticut school boards with low-achieving schools to create school governance councils for those schools made up mostly of students’ parents. The councils are empowered to, among other things, vote to reorganize low-achieving schools. For more information, please visit:
New school reform legislation requires Connecticut school boards with low-achieving schools to create school governance councils for those schools made up mostly of students’ parents. The councils are empowered to, among other things, vote to reorganize low-achieving schools. For more information, please visit:
