Trigger Laws • Does Signing a Petition Give Parents a Voice?
Illustration: Michael Duffy
Parent trigger laws, according to their proponents, give parents power. Gregory McGinity, managing director of policy for the Broad Education Foundation, calls them “a way for parents’ voices to be heard.”
Sounds good. But is the parent trigger concept a way to put parents in charge of their kids’ education, or is it part of a political agenda that will rob parents of even more control?
The first parent trigger law was passed in California last year. It says that if the parents of 51 percent of a public school’s students sign a petition (the “trigger”), that petition will result in one of four options: firing the principal, bringing in an entirely new staff, closing the school, or handing over the school to a charter school operator. Rather than triggering a broader process, the specific option—for example, the specific charter school company—is part of the petition.
Several very conservative players in national education reform, in addition to Broad, have made parent trigger proposals a key part of their agenda. Many teachers fear the expansion of a privatized education system, and view parent trigger laws as a means for rushing the